Carn man found not guilty of assault in pub
A young man from Carndonagh was found not guilty by a jury of six men and six women of having committed an assault against a man at Tully’s Bar, Carndonagh on August 14, 2010.
Aaron Doherty (20) of Trenbane, Carndonagh had denied assaulting Michael Curley who received 30 stitches to his face after he was struck with a glass on the night in question.
On Friday the court heard evidence from Janine Doherty, Aaron’s sister, who said that she and her brother had gone to Tully’s Bar to celebrate a birthday on the night of the incident.
The bar had been busy and she and her brother had gone to have a cigarette before getting a drink. While they were making their way towards the smoking area she said that Michael Curley had bumped into them and that a verbal altercation between her brother and him had taken place. She said that Aaron was not carrying a glass at the time of the incident.
In his evidence Aaron Doherty told the court that the verbal altercation had taken place. He added that Michael Curley had been carrying a pint glass in his left hand and that he had hit the glass which had smashed over Michael’s face. “Michael was in bad humour and things happened fast,” he said.
He told the court it was an accident.
Circuit Court Judge John O’Hagan said that it was obvious that some sort of contact had taken place between the two men. He told the jury that the burden of proof lay on the person who makes the accusation.
The Judge added that some of the witnesses had given varying evidence in court and that the jury would have to be satisfied without any reasonable doubt of what had taken place on the night in question.
In less than an hour returned a unanimous not guilty verdict.
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Saturday 18 May 2013
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