Attack left man with brain damage, court hears
A Romanian national has today been sentenced to eight years in prison after he left a construction worker with brain damage having hit him over the head five times with a plank of wood.
Dorel Pantiru (aged 30) of Stammer Street, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Joseph McDonagh at Middle Abbey Street on December 11, 2007.
He had no previous convictions in this jurisdiction but five from Romania including a serious assault and theft.
Mr McDonagh suffered a fractured skull and was in a coma for a month after the attack. He was discharged from hospital three months later but is on daily medication and will probably need such treatment for the rest of his life. It is unlikely that he will ever return to work in the construction industry.
Sergeant David Gallagher told Ms Mary Rose Gearty BL, prosecuting at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, that Mr McDonagh had claimed Pantiru tried to pull up his pants while the two of them were in the bathroom of a nightclub on Middle Abbey Street.
A verbal altercation took place which led to a scuffle involving a number of patrons on the premises. Security guards threw both groups out in an effort to break up the brawl but it continued outside.
Judge Martin Nolan described it as a "savage assault". He accepted that there was "an element of provocation" on behalf of Mr McDonagh but said that Pantiru's actions were "not in any way proportionate".
"This was a very serious offence and it would not have been surprising if Mr McDonagh had died," Judge Nolan said.
He suspended the last three years of the sentence having taken into account Pantiru's plea of guilty and "quick and deep remorse" for his actions that night.
Sgt Gallagher said that witnesses later saw Pantiru hit the victim five times with a "2 x 4" plank of wood. The accused remained at the scene and was pointed out to gardaí as the culprit.
Pantiru asked gardaí if the victim was dead and cried at the garda station during the subsequent interview when he learned of the seriousness of the man's injuries.
Sgt Gallagher agreed with Mr Eoghan Cole BL (with Mr Conor Devally SC), defending, that his client's remorse was genuine and borne out of his concern for the victim.
He accepted that Pantiru had acted in "a moment of madness", was intoxicated on the night, and that he also remained at the scene to try and ascertain the state of the victim.
Mr Cole told Judge Nolan that his client is a married man with one child. He said he was "extremely regretful" for what he had done that night.
