A man who savagely attacked a pub landlord with a baseball bat after he barred him from his bar has been jailed for two and half years.
John McGettigan, whom it was claimed was kicked out of the pub for calling landlord Darren McLaughlin name such as Tommy Tugger and Pat Mustard from Fr Ted, was found guilty of the brutal attack.
The court heard how McGettigan had followed Mr McLaughlin to his home in Foden, Carndonagh and struck him several times with the bat breaking a number of his fingers at 2am on October 8th, 2013.
McGettigan’s legal team had claimed the issue arose out of an incident during which Mr McLaughlin was caught masturbating behind the bar of The Orchard Bar in Gleneely.
McGettigan, 32, admitted being the ringleader among a number of pub regulars who slagged Mr McLaughlin and that this eventually led to him being barred.
The attacker, a fisherman and part-time farmer, has continued to deny he was the one who attacked Mr McLaughlin at his home.
However, a jury disagreed and returned a unanimous guilty verdict that McGettigan had assaulted Mr McLaughlin causing him harm.
Pub landlord Mr McLaughlin read out a moving victim impact statement in which he said he was not only physically hurt but also left mentally scarred by the attack.
He revealed how he now sleeps with lights on inside and outside his house at night and how he suffered financially by not being able to return to work.
He also condemned the nature of the evidence and the media coverage of the case (the full victim impact statement is carried below.)
“It was very hard to relive the night of the assault and it made me feel very vulnerable all over again. The court case itself was hard enough, but when I arrived home to be told that my case had been on social media (Irish Sun) and the story had been fabricated and blown out of proportion I was gutted.
“The stories in the papers have affected me, my immediate family and not to mention my business. I was so upset that I could not face anyone for days or go to my work.
“Again I was physically sick, could not sleep or function and was out money because I could not work myself. It has put a very big strain on my current relationship and family.
“During the hearing of the case I felt like a criminal because of the evidence Mr McDaid gave, that was not relevant to the night or time of my assault, and then to have papers print that a lewd sex act was the cause of my assault has furthermore damaged me mentally, my immediate friends, family and business.
“I want to move on from this but it will not be easy as I feel like I will be the one with a record because of Google and social media and the links to this case.
“I would like to thank the court and jury and I hope that I can finally put closure on this matter and eventually try and move on with my life.”
Barrister for McGettigan of Gemstone Park, Gleneely, Mr Peter Nolan said the incidents of Mr McLaughlin masturbating in the bar was “an essential part of the trial.”
“It is necessary to clarify that he admitted to these allegations. He has to accept that this was an essential part of the trial,” he said.
Judge Martin Nolan agreed but told Mr McLaughlin that this aspect of the case would be forgotten in time.
“This evidence had to come out and it is unfortunate that he came to public notoriety. I hope other matters will come along and he will be forgotten about,” he said.
A number of people spoke up on behalf of McGettigan including his current employer and his next door neighbours.
However, the most heartfelt came from his sister Mairead, a community children’s nurse.
She told the court that the family’s parents were both in their 70s and as the only son in the family, John regularly helped his father on the farm.
She added that her brother didn’t want the family to come to court for the initial trial because he was protecting them and keeping them together as usual.
Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said the attack was at the higher end of the scale for Section 3 assaults.
He described it as a “savage assault by any standards” and that he must sentence McGettigan by taking into account those facts.
He said a baseball was a frightening weapon, that few people in Ireland played baseball and that most other people have baseball bats for other reasons than playing baseball.
He said that he also accepted that if he sent him to jail that many other people including his family would suffer.
But he added “On night in question, temper overcame you and you committed a huge misjudgement and it was pretty malicious.
“It is distressing to impose such a sentence on a good man in many ways because putting you in prison will affect you and your family but because of the seriousness of the crime, a sentence is warranted in this case.”
He sentenced McGettigan to four years in prison but suspended the last 18 months.
* Victim impact statement of Darren McLaughlin
“MY injuries sustained from my assault: I have been left with visual scars to my head, my leg and I have continuous pain in my fingers, hand and leg. Since the assault I have been affected psychologically. It has left me very nervous traveling home at night. It leaves me with the need to leave lights on inside and outside my house all night which makes me feel like a child.
“After the assault I had to leave my rented house and move in with my family because I was afraid to live alone. But I did keep on my rented house.
“After the assault I had loss of earnings due to not being able to work myself. I had to pay out for extra staff to cover the work I would normally have done. And I was also out monies because of medical expenses.
“The assault made me very uneasy for a long time when I went back to work. I found myself making up stories about the assault because I was afraid that I might have been attacked again if I really mentioned who did it. This is totally out of character for me.
“As a publican I found it very hard to get into any confrontations after the assault because I had no confidence any more.
“For a long time and to this day I still feel the need not to take the direct route home and this has been made worse since the court hearing.
“A day or two leading up to the court case I was extremely nervous and physically sick, so much so that my partner had to cover me at my work. When I went to court the next day I never expected my personal business and character to be discredited so maliciously.
“It was very hard to relive the night of the assault and it made me feel very vulnerable all over again. The court case itself was hard enough, but when I arrived home to be told that my case had been on social media (Irish Sun) and the story had been fabricated and blown out of proportion I was gutted.
“The stories in the papers have affected me, my immediate family and not to mention my business. I was so upset that I could not face anyone for days or go to my work.
“Again I was physically sick, could not sleep or function and was out money because I could not work myself. It has put a very big strain on my current relationship and family.
“During the hearing of the case I felt like a criminal because of the evidence Mr McDaid gave, that was not relevant to the night or time of my assault, and then to have papers print that a lewd sex act was the cause of my assault has furthermore damaged me mentally, my immediate friends, family and business.
“I want to move on from this but it will not be easy as I feel like I will be the one with a record because of Google and social media and the links to this case.
“I would like to thank the court and jury and I hope that I can finally put closure on this matter and eventually try and move on with my life.”