Assault occurred after a large group of fit and young hurlers gathered in Tipperary village

A Drombane man found guilty of assault causing serious harm in Upperchurch in June 2021 was sentenced to four years in prison at Nenagh Circuit Court last Friday.

Patrick Burke (21) of Roskeen, Drombane was given a four-year sentence, two of those years were suspended for a period of two years on the condition that he attended Probation Services and attended anger management and addiction services. 

A charge of violent disorder was taken into account.

Judge Catherine Staines said the only reason the last two years had been suspended was because the defendant had accepted the verdict of a jury and had finally accepted his guilt.

A  jury had previously heard the case of the Drombane man and delivered a verdict of guilty on both counts at Nenagh Circuit Court.

Patrick Burke (21) of Roskeen, Drombane, was charged with violent disorder, contrary to Section 15 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 and assault causing serious harm to Ross Whelan, Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Acts Against the Person Act 1997, on June 27, 2021, in Upperchurch. 

The trial was five days long, and the jury of five men and seven women deliberated for two hours and three minutes before delivering their unanimous verdict. 

On Friday in Nenagh Circuit Court, Patrick Burke, accompanied by his family, appeared for sentencing before Judge Staines.

The victim of the assault, Ross Whelan, now 21-years-old, was in a coma for ten days after the assault and had a titanium plate fitted in his skull to replace a fractured temporal bone.

BRAIN INJURY

“I wish all the time that I could just return to my normal self before I had this brain injury,” he told the court. Making a victim impact statement to the court Ross Whelan of Old Road, Cashel told Judge Catherine Staines that “my life has changed immeasurably and completely since I was assaulted and it can never return to the way it was before”. 

Ross Whelan said his wish of playing senior hurling for Cashel King Cormac’s was taken from him and he has difficulty concentrating during lectures in college.

“I have been changed completely and have to hold the scars both physically and mentally from that night and that assault for the rest of my life,” Ross Whelan told the court before Judge Staines passed sentence.

Concluding his statement Ross thanked Judge Staines, the jury, the gardaí, the Family Liaison Officer, the person who provided medical assistance to him in Upperchurch after the assault and his friends  who brought him to the hospital immediately after the assault.

Ross Whelan thanked the medical staff at University Hospital Limerick and Cork University Hospital for their work in helping him recover from the injuries he sustained on that night.

 He thanked Cashel King Cormac’s GAA Club for their support and he thanked his family, his parents Ken and Paula , his girlfriend Lucy and his wide  circle of friends.

 “These people helped me through some of the toughest days of my life in the last three years and I am very grateful to them,” he said.

Prior to sentencing, Judge Staines was told that Patrick Burke had no previous convictions and she read a number of testimonies that were handed to her that included one from a representative of Upperchurch GAA Club which described Mr Burke as a person of “strong moral character” and from a priest who praised the defendant for his work as a volunteer  in Lourdes.

YOUNG HURLERS

Aidan Doyle SC, who was instructed by Sean O’Mahony BL, told the court that the defendant had graduated from Kildalton Agricultural College. Patrick Burke  worked with an agricultural products company as well as doing a significant number of hours on the family farm.

Aidan Doyle SC said the court had heard that there was a lot of fit young hurlers who congregated in Upperchurch that night and it was clear many of them were very, very intoxicated and were behaving badly.

Mr Burke was the one who behaved the worst, he was intoxicated and his behaviour had devastating consequences for Ross Whelan. It was clear that the Whelan family were devastated and so too were the family of Patrick Burke devastated by what happened.

Passing sentence Judge Staines said that this was not a one-punch assault, this assault went much further than that, there was one punch and the victim was punched again while unconscious.

Judge Staines said it was significant that the defendant had accepted the verdict and had finally apologised.

“You are remorseful but it has come late in the day,” said Judge Staines.

The assault, said Judge Staines, had a devastating effect on the life of the victim.

After passing sentence on Mr Burke, Judge Staines addressed the victim and told Mr Whelan that she wished him a good recovery and wished him well in continuing his studies.