An appeal by a stable hand against his conviction for an assault that left a publican in a wheelchair has been dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
In January 2006, Kieran Roche (27) of Main Street, Taghmon, Co Wexford, was found guilty at Wexford Circuit Court of causing serious harm to Andreas Ryan (44) on December 6th, 2003.
The trial heard that, as a result of being kicked in the head by Roche, Mr Ryan was left in a wheelchair, unable to speak and able to communicate to others only by using symbols and sheets.
Roche, who claimed he was attacked by Mr Ryan after returning from a party, was jailed for seven years by Judge Michael O'Shea.
The three judge Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed Roche's appeal against conviction.
Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan, presiding and sitting with Mr Justice Liam McKechnie and Mr Justice Eamon De Valera , said the trial judge's charge to the jury was "impeccable"
and the court was satisfied the conviction should remain intact.
The court would also dismiss all other grounds of the appeal as of "no substance" either on their own or cumulatively, he said. Other grounds of appeal related to media coverage of the trial and alleged unsatisfactory evidence given by a forensic scientist from the State laboratory.