prozac
A TRINITY College dentistry student with no previous convictions has been given a six-month suspended jail sentence for assaulting another young student.

Morgan Roche (29), of Station Road, Sutton, had not slept for days due to final exam stress and had taken Prozac and alcohol when he punched the 22-year-old DCU student in the face at Citi Bar on Dame Street.



Roche pleaded guilty before Judge Patricia Ryan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault between March 11 and 12, 2008.

Garda Sgt Paul Tallon told Maurice Coffey, prosecuting, that he was at the scene on another matter when floor staff removed Roche from the premises for attacking the younger man. Sgt Tallon said the injured party told gardai he had seen Roche holding a female on his shoulders before he went to get his jacket in the cloakroom.

Bouncers

The DCU student said Roche approached him in the queue, put his arm around his shoulder and when he tried to get away, punched him in the face.

The 22-year-old shielded his face with his arms as Roche continued to beat him till the bouncers intervened.

The sergeant agreed with Caroline Biggs, defending, that the injured party had indicated he didn’t wish her client to go to jail over the matter.

He agreed that Roche had €5,000 compensation to offer the victim and has little memory of the assault.

Judge Ryan said she had taken into account the fact that although the victim had been left with a visible scar, he did not want the defendant to end up in prison.

She said she had also taken into consideration that the offence was “completely out of character” for Roche and the effect such a conviction would have on his future career before she suspended the entirety of the sentence on strict conditions.

hnews@herald.ie