A MAN has been sentenced to 12 months in jail for his part in an assault which left the victim in a wheelchair and requiring life-long care as a result of serious brain injuries.
James Byrne (26), with an address at the Ridgepool Apartments, Barrett Street, Ballina, Co Mayo, ran towards the victim and punched him with a fist in the face, leaving the man dazed.
His friend Gary Stapleton (25) then punched the man once, knocking him down and then kicked him once in the head as he lay motionless on the ground.
Their victim, Noel Hudson (22), suffered a traumatic brain injury and remains in hospital care.
Byrne pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing Mr Hudson harm on March 18th, 2006, at Corrig Avenue, Dun Laoghaire.
Stapleton, (25) of Hillview Crescent, Bunree Road, Ballina, was jailed for six years last June after he pleaded guilty to a more serious charge of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm.
Mr Hudson was brought to St Vincent's hospital and then transferred to Beaumont Hospital where he underwent an operation for a severe brain injury but remained in a coma.
Doctors feared he might enter a "persistent vegetative state" but in late 2007 he began to show "remarkable progress".
He now lives in the young chronic sick unit of the Royal Hospital, Donnybrook, after a period in the National Rehabilitation Hospital.
He remains in a wheelchair, is almost totally dependent and will require life-long care.
Doctors hope he might be able to return to the care of his family in the future.
Brendan Nix SC (with Marie Torrens, defending, told the court that a psychologist report concluded that his client was not likely to come before the courts again.
"He has become somewhat reclusive and is not out and about as much as he had been before. He has kept his bib clean," Mr Nix said.
He told the court that although Byrne denied to gardaí that he had said to Stapleton, "you already floored him, you should not have kicked him while he was down", his client now acknowledged that he had said that.