A chef who beat up another chef in the kitchen of a restaurant has been ordered to pay his victim €2,000 to stay out of jail.
Kamran Waris, 32, appeared before Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal charged with assaulting a colleague causing him harm at The Spicy Grill in Ramelton on February 13, 2021.
CCTV footage of the bizarre attack showed Waris having a heated debate with his fellow chef Noman Shiakh as they both prepared food.
As the debate got more animated, the row turned to pushing and shoving before the accused man reached for a pair of silver tongs and using it to strike his victim a number of times.
The victim can then be seen holding his head as blood flows from his wound onto the floor of the kitchen.
Garda Mark O’Sullivan gave the background to the case saying both men were from Pakistan and spoke the same language but were from different cultures.
On the night of the incident Gardai received a report to say there had been an incident at the Spicy Grill and when they arrived they found an injured man standing outside the premises.
Mr Shiakh was bleeding from his head and there was blood on his face and he claimed that his colleague, Kamran Waris, had struck him in the head with an object.
Waris was spoken to and Gardai noticed he had minor cuts and also had bruising and redness on his right hand.
The victim said the impression he got from Waris, with an address at Cannon View, Carnamuggagh Upper, Letterkenny, was that he thought he was better than him and that he shouted a lot at him and taunted him.
Waris was an Indian chef while his victim was a fast food chef and both worked in separate parts of the kitchen.
On the night in question a row had allegedly started about the pressing of a bell in the kitchen to get the attention of their boss.
CCTV footage of the incident clearly showed the incident including efforts by the manager of the restaurant to come between the men before Waris reaches for the food tongs and strikes his workmate a number of times.
Mr Shiakh was taken to hospital for treatment where he received three staples to his head, was given painkillers and also a tetanus injection.
When interviewed by Gardai on February 21st, Waris claimed the other chef was getting physically aggressive with him and that his tone was loud.
He claimed he pushed him and that he tried to punch him as he held him and that he fell against a fryer and burned his hand on some oil before picking up the tongs.
In his victim impact statement, the injured chef said the incident affected himself and his family and that he had suffered psychologically from it as well as encountering a lot of stress.
He added that he had lost his job as a result of the incident, his life had changed in the past three years and that many people in his own community had given him a hard time.
Barrister for Waris, Mr Sean McGee, BL, said his client had no previous convictions and had not come to Garda attention since the incident.
He said the court had heard that there were arguments in the kitchen over the division of labour but a Probation Report had outlined that his client was of a low risk of reoffending.
He had no addiction issues, had a good work record and was in a stable relationship with his wife and that the couple had not any children yet.
He said he had found work with a security company but his wife, who is a trained psychiatric consultant, could not work because she suffered from a Covid-related illness and required a lot of treatment including some which cost more than €12,000.
He had two very references in the court both from his current employer and a former employer at the Village Tavern in Kerrykeel.
Mr Magee said Waris has been in Ireland since 2015 and had never been in trouble before.
The incident happened in a high-pressured work environment and was not premeditated but also accepted that this did not excuse his behaviour on the night.
He added that his client, due to his wife’s illness and not being able to work, had had great difficulty getting compensation together but could get €500 as a token gesture.
He also added that there could also be a civil recourse in the matter.
Waris also took to the witness box and personally apologised to his victim saying “I don’t have anything personal with him. I’m really sorry for your suffering and it should not have happened. I am just asking to say sorry for what I have done, whatever I have done I should not have done.”
Considering the matter Judge John Aylmer said that this was a serious assault with a weapon and while there was an argument going on, it did not amount to self-defence.
He added that it was fortunate Mr Shiakh did not suffer more serious injuries after the large kitchen tongs had left the victim with a nasty cut on the head.
He placed the offence at the lower end of the scale of such offences but it was on the “borderline” given the use of the weapon and the blow to the head and one which merited a sentence of 18 months in prison.
However, in mitigation, the accused has no previous convictions, was a hard-working man and was clearly remorseful for what he had done.
This was clearly out of character for him adding it was “an aberration after he simply lost his temper in what should have been an ordinary row between employees.”
After mitigation he reduced the sentence to one of 12 months before asking Gardai to check if the victim was open to an offer of compensation to which he was informed he was.
Judge Aylmer added that he still considered the offer as insufficient and ordered Waris to pay his victim a further €1,500, a total of €2,000 compensation.
He said that if this was done he would not impose a custodial sentence.
The case was adjourned for one year.