Man who set upon Spanish student in 'unprovoked' attack with 'homophobic overtones' jailed

Isabel Hayes

A man who set upon a Spanish student in Dublin city centre in an “utterly unprovoked” attack with “homophobic overtones” has been jailed for three years.

The 25-year-old Spanish man had recently arrived in Ireland to study English when he was punched several times after homophobic slurs were shouted at him while he was out socialising in the early hours of the morning.

He suffered a broken jaw and required surgery in the aftermath of the attack, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. He had been due to stay in Ireland for one year but left the country within weeks of the assault.

Kevin Geraghty (31) of Carmens Hall Hostel, Francis Street, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the man on Cuffe Street, Dublin 2 in the early hours of September 19th, 2024. He has 70 previous convictions.

The court heard the victim had been at a nightclub in town and was standing outside a bar waiting for a friend when two men approached him, shouting homophobic slurs. One of the men, Geraghty, then punched him several times to the face before fleeing the scene. Geraghty later denied he shouted homophobic abuse at the victim.

The victim went home to bed but woke up the next morning feeling unwell and went to hospital. He remained there for a number of days and required surgery. His parents flew over from Madrid to be with him.

The court heard that at the time of the attack, Geraghty was wearing a distinctive orange jacket. Two weeks later, he was spotted by gardaí wearing the same jacket and arrested. He made no admissions.

Pieter Le Vert BL, defending, said Geraghty was a crack cocaine addict who slipped into drug use after leaving school at a young age. He has been in custody since his arrest and is doing well, the court heard.

Sentencing him on Tuesday, Judge Orla Crowe said it was “a completely unprovoked attack on a visitor to our country”. It was “an attack that had distinct homophobic overtones to it”, she noted.

“They might not have been uttered by this defendant but they were uttered and he punched the injured party to the face,” she said. She noted it had a huge impact on the injured party, including a financial impact.

She said Geraghty “has a CV littered with convictions”.

Judge Crowe set a sentence of three years and nine months and suspended the final nine months on a number of conditions.