John Paul Berry (39), Paul Gerard Herlihy (35), Damien Anthony O’Sullivan (26), all from Cork, and David Alan McCabe (22), of Salford, were all sentenced to 180 hours of community service and banned from licensed premises for six months by the Royal Court.
The three older defendants had already served the equivalent of 12 months in prison on remand while awaiting trial.
All four were caught on CCTV attacking Mohammed Nafkha and his friend, Sonar Isik, in the Weighbridge bar on 27 March.
The footage showed them punching and kicking the two men in what Commissioner Philip Le Cras described as a ‘cowardly attack’.
Turning to the defendants before announcing the sentences, he said: ‘All those standing before us had far too much to drink and were quite unable to control themselves.’ The fracas was sparked when O’Sullivan accused Nafkha of stealing money from his heavily intoxicated brother, Jonathan.
Crown Advocate Conrad Yates told the court that Nafkha was helping Jonathan, who he had been in prison with, pick up the contents of his pockets which he had emptied onto a table.
Confrontation O’Sullivan, with Herlihy at his side, crossed the bar and confronted Nafkha, who was quickly joined by his friend, Mr Isik.
Footage shown to the court showed Berry and McCabe rushing to their friends’ side.
In moments, Berry pushed Nafkha and jabbed him twice in the face.
Advocate Yates said Herlihy and McCabe tried to restrain Berry, but without provocation O’Sullivan headbutted Mr Nafkha and then, seconds later, punched hard by Herlihy, a former competitive boxer.
The blow caused him to reel backwards onto the bar.
Advocate Yates said: ‘Immediately after this, O’Sullivan threw one forceful punch at Mr Isik, who was at the time standing passively and had not at any time offered any threat to him.’ The court heard that this punch caused Mr Isik, who was three times the legal drive drive alcohol limit, to fall back on the bar and then to the floor.
Advocate Yates described how the second victim was ‘completely dazed’ as he tried to get to his feet and hit his head on the bar as he did so.
Defendants In the meantime, all four defendants punched and kicked Mr Nafkha before he managed to flee.
Because it was unclear how Mr Isik suffered the serious head injury which left him half-paralysed, the court was told that none of the defendants was ‘criminally responsible’.
Mr Isik is still in hospital, while Mr Nafkha, who suffered cuts and bruises, has made a full recovery.
All four men admitted a grave and criminal assault on Mr Nafkha and Berry admitted a common assault on Mr Isik.
Herlihy and O’Sullivan denied a grave and criminal assault on Mr Isik.
After a trial, Herlihy was acquitted, but the jury found that O’Sullivan’s one punch made him guilty of the charge.
During a police interview, McCabe admitted they had behaved like a ‘bunch of animals’.
Advocate Justin Michel, for Berry, said his client’s actions were not premeditated and he had not meant any serious harm to the victims.
Advocates Michael Haines, for Herlihy, and Jane Martin, for McCabe, emphasised that their clients’ attempts to stop the fight in the initial stages of the fracas.
Advocate Sue Pearmain, for O’Sullivan, said her client had always had to look out for his brother, Jonathan, who had drink and drug problems, and that he had handed himself in to the police after the attack.
After announcing sentence, Commissioner Le Cras ordered an investigation into how the men could have been served on licensed premises when so clearly intoxicated.
He was sitting with Jurats Allo and Clapham.
