An Armagh man, who left his victim in a coma following a “one punch” assault at a Christmas party, has walked free from court.
Martin Michael Joseph Crilly, of The Cairn Road, appeared at Newry Crown Court on Friday following an assault almost two years ago – one which the victim continues to struggle with physically.
The 45-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to a single count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm stemming from an incident in the early hours of December 19, 2022.
At around 1.40am police were called to a large ongoing fracas at the Armagh City Hotel involving a number of people; several fights had taken place within the foyer and outside the function room.
The injured party was found lying on the ground, seriously injured.
The complainant, the court heard, has no memory of the incident. He attended a Christmas party at the hotel with his family and work colleagues. He remembers speaking to friends around midnight before waking up in the Royal Victoria Hospital several days later
His Honour Judge Ramsey KC said the case “proved very challenging for the prosecution because of the different assaults, the reluctance of people to assist and the recollections being guided by alcohol, as well as the piecemeal nature of the CCTV footage”.
However, he said, “it appears that the complainant was trying to break up one of the fights between this accused and another male within the foyer of the hotel”.
“The complainant appeared to pull this man out of the fight, tried to take him outside to a porch area, and from CCTV, the accused turned around and punched the male once to the face, and as a result of which, the complainant fell to the ground and the defendant left the area.
“He was unaware of how gravely injured the complainant was.”
The injured party was treated, first of all in Craigavon Area Hospital, but was then transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital due to the severity of the injury.
He received serious head injuries. He was released on the Christmas Eve, but readmitted on Boxing Day due to the bruising and swelling of his brain. He was released from hospital again on December 30, but admitted again in mid-January, with the bilateral pulmonary embolism of both lungs as a direct result of his head injuries.
The judge told the court that the victim is still undergoing a long recovery period, and he’s been unable to work while recovering.
He was self-employed, and he suffered considerable financial loss, and he suffers from sight problems and blurred vision.
Crilly initially denied the offence and stated that he was assaulted himself by another person.
Defence barrister Ian Turkington said his client is “disgusted and ashamed of his behaviour”.
He added: “I have been invited by the defendant to place on the record how sorry he is in relation to the complainant. Up until this point, they were friends. Their children are best friends and, of course, not only does he have to live with whatever imposition the court has in mind, but he also has to suffer the stigma in a small local community of having been prosecuted for an assault of this nature.”
He continued: “We respectfully remind the court that this is a one punch case in which the defendant genuinely, but mistakenly, believed he was about to be punched and struck out….he was involved in a fight earlier….he was actually the victim of an assault – not by this man – at an earlier stage.”
Judge Ramsey took some time to consider a number of character references for Crilly which, he said, “testify to the fact that this particular matter is extremely out of character for him”.
However, the judge read from a hand-written victim impact statement which spoke of the complainant’s continuing “struggle with debilitating fatigue, frequent dizziness, no sense of smell and mood swings”.
“He was a self-employed construction contractor, but after being unable to work for over a year, he has returned to a very different reality, and he’s now limited to low impact work….in contrast to his previous healthy, heavy, active lifestyle.
“He lost his driving licence for more than a year, and that led to his independence and mobility being lost, and the situation has placed an immense burden on his family, particularly his wife, who is also self-employed; she’s had to take significant time away from her work to accompany him to numerous appointments…this has intensified the financial struggles and loss of income, together with the physical injuries that he suffered.”
The judge addressed Crilly’s previous assault occasioning actual bodily harm conviction but conceded that it was of “some vintage”, having occurred 20 years ago.
He added that aggravating features included the fact Crilly was under the influence of alcohol, and this was an assault in a public place in the presence of others.
However, the judge took into consideration the guilty plea and “the expressed remorse”.
“In my view, it’s such a serious case, the custody threshold is clearly passed but based on the plea, together with the circumstances surrounding this are such that I feel an immediate custodial sentence is not required.”
Crilly was handed a 15 month custodial sentence, which was suspended for three years. The judge also granted a restraining order of two years and ordered the defendant to pay £1,500 by way of compensation to the victim.
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