A man who punched his friend after his own “send off” party before leaving for England has been handed a suspended prison sentence.
Kamil Celarek, 22, Trend House, Wakefield (formerly of Co Armagh) appeared at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday charged with grievous bodily harm.
The incident occurred on November 26, 2016, at Sally O’Brien’s nightclub in Omagh, when the injured party witnessed the Celarek being escorted from the property.
The victim left a short time later at around 1.30am, and at this point he was approached by Celarek who asked him why he did not stand up for him.
The injured party told him that he did not want to get involved, but the defendant struck him with three or four punches to the face.
At hospital, the claimant received five stitches in his lip as a result of the attack.
Defence Counsel stated that they the two had gone out together and the occasion had been a “send off” for Celarek.
They went on to say the defendant had no criminal record and had told them he “did not normally drink and had not drank since this incident”.
Court heard Celarek had lived in this country for 10 years and was currently employed as a warehouse worker, adding that he “perceived some form of aggression from the injured party”.
They added that he now understood that not to be the case and was “very regretful of his actions”.
District Judge Bernie Kelly claimed this was a “very serious offence”, but due to the defendant’s lack of previous convictions and acceptance of guilt, she sentenced him to three months suspended for a period of one year.
Celarek was also ordered to pay £250 to the injured party as a way of compensation.
