A Dublin man has offered an apology and a €1,000 token of remorse to a GAA umpire after pleading guilty to assaulting him during a minor hurling match.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday heard the details of the incident, which happened on March 5th, 2023 at Clan na Gael GAA club, Irishtown, during the sentence hearing of Michael Kelly (41).
Kelly, of Sherrard Street Lower, pleaded guilty but the court heard he did not actually strike umpire Paul Keane. Instead, he caused him the apprehension of being struck, which allows for a charge of assault under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
Garda David Walsh told the court the hurling match became fractious and some players were sent off as tensions rose. The referee was due to recommence the game when Keane was approached by one of the players, Kelly’s son, who was described by a witness as an imposing figure.
The garda said that, in Keane’s view, the player was approaching him in a threatening and provocative manner and he felt he had to tell the teenager in robust terms to get away from him.
At that point, Keane turned around and saw the accused running straight at him and trying to hit him, screaming: “What did you say to my son?”
“I just ducked out of the way,” he told gardaí. “He ran at me again swinging punches at me. At that stage, I grabbed his two arms trying to restrain him and we fell to the ground.”
The court heard matters then descended further, with other unidentified people striking Keane from behind several times while he was on the ground. He suffered concussion and had to attend a VHI Swift Care centre.
The court heard neither the concussion nor any other injuries sustained by Keane were attributable to the accused. However, the initial assault by Kelly led to the later events.
Spectators and players, who were about 17 years old, were distressed by the episode, with prosecuting barrister John Gallagher describing it as “a very unwelcome intrusion at a sporting event”.
The court heard that Kelly’s 20 previous convictions were mostly for road traffic offences, but there was one from the circuit court for assault causing harm.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister Shaun Smyth, Walsh agreed the match had become an ill-tempered affair by the time of the assault. He also agreed that those who had caused Keane’s injuries, who were many in number, were mostly not identified.
Smyth said Kelly was at the ground to see his son play, but was not actually pitchside when things kicked off, having gone to get coffee.
“The first thing he saw when he returned was his son being spoken to robustly,” he said. “He made a stupid split-second decision.”
Kelly had not foreseen that the umpire could end up on the ground being assaulted by others, he added.
Counsel said Kelly grew up on Sherrard Street, a difficult inner city area, was very young and giving very little thought to his future when he committed the crimes that led to his previous convictions.
However, he had moved on from that scenario and now employed eight men in his construction business. He said Kelly suffered a tragedy in 2021, when his second child died two days after birth.
Counsel said his client’s behaviour on the day was a serious aberration that would be marked by a criminal conviction, but he asked the judge to allow him to continue contributing to society as a father and an employer.
Judge Orla Crowe remanded Kelly on continuing bail for sentence on April 13th, by which time enquiries should be made as to whether the injured party would accept his written apology and €1,000 he had brought as a token of his remorse.