Courts

Judge quashes suspended sentence for footballer who caused ‘traumatic’ injury to opponent’s scrotum

Michael Friel received three-month suspended sentence for injuring Laurence McMullan during 2017 match in Donegal

Friel acknowledged causing the injury but stressed that the incident was unintentional. Photograph: David Young/PA Wire
Friel acknowledged causing the injury but stressed that the incident was unintentional. Photograph: David Young/PA Wire
Chris McNulty
Fri Oct 11 2024 - 13:51

A Gaelic footballer from Donegal who was given a suspended sentence for injuring the scrotum of an opponent has had his conviction overturned.

Michael Friel’s conviction for assault causing harm to Laurence McMullan during a Gaelic football match in Convoy in 2017 was quashed at a sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court.

Judge Paul Kelly said the incident, which resulted in a seven-centimetre laceration to McMullan’s scrotum necessitating eight stitches, was a “misjudged, clumsy tackle”. Judge Kelly said the injury was “something of a freak” and he was satisfied that Friel had not intended to cause injury.

In March 2023, Friel was handed a three-month suspended sentence for assault causing harm to McMullan.

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The incident arose during an All-County Football League game on August 18th, 2017 at Pairc Naomh Mhuire in Convoy, where Friel was playing for Naomh Colmcille and McMullan for St Mary’s, Convoy.

Friel acknowledged causing the injury but stressed that the incident was unintentional.

Friel, a 27-year-old of Keshends, Newtowncunningham, represented by barrister Peter Nolan, had come home from Germany for the appeal hearing, the court was told.

He told the court that the game was “intense, tough, physical and fast-paced”.

He said he “tackled him clumsily” and was on the wrong side when McMullan got possession.

Friel said he was “just trying to stop his progress” and told Judge Kelly that he “has never intended to hurt an opposition player on any field”.

He sent McMullan a text message the following day to “make sure he knew it was an accident.”

“It was a clumsy tackle that resulted in an unfortunate injury,” he said.

McMullan told State solicitor for Donegal, Kieran Dillon, for the prosecution, that there was “a lot of tension in the game” when he picked up a loose ball and was tackled around the waist. He said Friel moved his hand down and pulled on his testicles.

He said he felt a “sharp pain” and played on as he didn’t want to go off due to the importance of the game. After the game, he said he could see blood and he required assistance from clubmates before being taken to Letterkenny University Hospital, where he had five painkilling injections to numb the area and had eight stitches inserted to repair a seven-centimetre laceration.

McMullan said the incident was “very traumatic” and the injury took over a month to heal properly.

Mr Nolan suggested that McMullan only went to the gardaí as he was dissatisfied with the level of investigation conducted by the Donegal GAA County Board.

“The injury was severe and I need accountability,” McMullan said. He told Mr Nolan that he was “assessing his options” before going to the gardaí and added: “I wasn’t in the right space to talk about the injury. I didn’t feel comfortable talking about a hole in my testicles”.

Judge Kelly said it was a case that arose out of “a hotly-contested and intense Gaelic football match”, describing the injury as “most unusual”.

He described the injury as “most unusual” and said he had no doubt that there are hundreds of Gaelic football and contact sports matches where contact is made with the genital area and the consequences were nowhere near as severe as in this case.

Judge Kelly said it was his view that a tackle within the rules of Gaelic football is “quite difficult to achieve” and it often happens where players are pulled, tripped or dragged.

Friel had, Judge Kelly said, given fair and honest evidence in which he admitted to grabbing McMullan by the shorts – an illegal tackle in the strict understanding of the rules.

Judge Kelly noted Mr Dillon’s contention that by grabbing the front of McMullan’s shorts that Friel was “reckless” about the outcome and that resulted in criminal liability.

Dismissing the charge, Judge Kelly said he was satisfied that what happened was a “misjudged, clumsy tackle”.