An Enniskillen man who hit another man outside a public house in the town has been fined £300 for a single charge of common assault when he appeared before a recent sitting of Fermanagh Magistrates Court.

Rory James Connolly, a 20-year-old student with an address at Hillview Park in the town, is charged with the offence, which occurred in the early hours of 14th September last year.

The court heard that the defendant left a public house where the injured party had been involved in a row with another individual. The defendant initially went over to the injured party to calm him down but the defendant claims that he was 'risen' by the injured party and subsequently struck him.

The injured party was taken to Altnagelvin Hospital to be treated for his injuries. Although no medical evidence was available, the injured party claims that he received two fractures to his jaw and also lost a tooth.

Defending, Bernard Corrigan told the court the prosecution accepted that the injured party had been involved in an altercation with a third person and that he was struck by someone else who was not the defendant.

Mr Corrigan said his client accepted that he struck the injured party but, because the injured party had been in a row with someone else that evening, the charge against the defendant was reduced from one of actual bodily harm to a charge of common assault.

According to the evidence, he submitted, the injured party said he was struck by someone in an orange T-shirt. The defendant wore a blue T-shirt on the night in question.

STRIKE

Mr Corrigan said an incident earlier that evening had involved the injured party and a friend of the defendant. His client's instructions to him were that, in a later exchange, the injured party said something to him that caused him to strike out.

All parties had been out socialising that evening, and the defence conceded that alcohol was a factor here. A number of character references were produced on behalf of the defendant and the court heard that his father was present in court with him, a sign, Mr Corrigan suggested, of how seriously they were taking the charge.

Mr Corrigan added that, since the incident happened in September last year, the defendant hadn't come to police attention since. This was proof, said Mr Corrigan, that this was a 'one-off' and totally out of character for this young man.

Upon questioning by Resident Magistrate Bonita Boyd about the injuries caused, a solicitor for the Prosecution Service stated that the evidence would not support the assertion that the defendant caused these injuries.

Ms Boyd imposed a £300 fine on the defendant, saying that this case was very unfortunate for the injured party

Mr Corrigan said that his client had just finished his first year of a degree at John Moores University in Liverpool.