Dublin street 'one-punch' victim lay for two hours before help arrived

Tom Tuite

A man who suffered critical head injuries in an alleged one-punch assault lay on a Dublin street at night for two hours until a passer-by called for help, a court heard.

David O'Loughlin (39) with an address of Ripley Court, Talbot Street, Dublin, was charged with assault causing harm at 11.40 pm on Monday at Foley Street in the north inner city.

The unemployed man who claimed he was about to begin a paid doctorate at Maynooth University was denied bail by Judge Michele Finan at Dublin District Court.

During the hearing on Thursday, the defendant was forced to represent himself due to ongoing industrial action by solicitors over legal aid payment reforms.

He complained about breaches of his constitutional rights and a lack of legal representation.

Addressing the judge, he said, "I am disgusted at having no legal representation. I find it an egregious erosion of my rights."

Judge Finan warned Mr O'Loughlin that he was choosing to apply for bail without professional representation.

She cautioned him about the risk of self-incrimination, stressing that a bail hearing was not the stage of the proceedings to litigate the case.

"I completely understand that," Mr O'Loughlin replied.

Objecting to bail, Garda Micheál MacSuibhne cited the seriousness of the incident and alleged that the injured man was subjected to a one-punch attack, without physical provocation, causing him "to fall off the kerb and strike his head on the road".

The court heard the victim suffered two bleeds on the brain, a temporal skull fracture, and a suspected injury to his vertebrae.

The garda alleged that the accused did not attempt to assist the victim but instead collected items from the ground before leaving the scene.

The court was told the critically injured victim remained on the ground for two hours until a passerby discovered him and called an ambulance.

The court heard CCTV evidence showed the accused and the victim meeting on Talbot Street before walking to nearby Foley Street, where the alleged assault took place. Footage tracked the accused leaving and returning to his own address, the court heard.

During a subsequent search of the accused man's residence, gardaí recovered the injured man's wallet alongside clothing matching that worn by the accused in the CCTV footage, the court was told.

Garda MacSuibhne stated that a further serious charge could be brought, and he expected the case would be sent forward on indictment to the Circuit Court.

Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions are pending.

Proceeding without a lawyer, the accused cross-examined the prosecuting Garda on a couple of aspects of the bail objections.

He also told the court he refuted a lot of the garda's evidence, adding, "Unfortunately, I have no legal representation. If I did, I would not be speaking at this traumatic time."

Refusing bail, the judge held that the garda had established the grounds to object to the application and remanded Mr Loughlin in custody. However, she advised him that he could contact a solicitor and appeal the refusal to the High Court.

Mr Loughlin will appear again at Cloverhill District Court next Thursday.