A 24 year old Fermanagh man has been sentenced to three years and three months in prison for assaulting two directors of the former Quinn Industrial Holdings.
James Bernard McGovern pleaded guilty to the incident which took place in a service station in Ballyconnell in February 2019.
Mr McGovern, of Springtown Road, Kinawley, Co Fermanagh, appeared before Cavan Circuit Court today for sentencing.
Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Kevin Lunney.
But the defendant, also known as Bernard McGovern, pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Dara O’Reilly.
Instead, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, of assault contrary to Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Persons Act.
Both men are directors of Mannok, formerly Quinn Industrial Holdings.
The Court heard the attack occurred just days after McGovern’s father Sean had his employment as a truck driver with Quinn Industrial Holdings terminated.
Mr Lunney told Gardaí that he had attended the filling station at Rakeelan, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, with Mr O’Reilly on their lunchbreak.
At the table next to where they sat was the defendant. Mr Lunney told Gardaí he knew who he was.
McGovern got up from his table before returning a short time later when he threw a cup of hot water in Mr O’Reilly’s face and proceeded to punch Mr Lunney in the face up to eight times, injuring his eye and fracturing his nose.
Despite the best efforts of other customers present to restrain McGovern, he escaped from the cafe area via an attached barber shop before making his way to his brother’s business next door.
Mr Lunney later underwent surgery for the broken nose, under general anaesthetic.
As a result of the force of the punches received, Mr Lunney received potentially lasting damage to his right eye.
Mr O’Reilly said he recalled having what he believed to be a cup of tea thrown in his face, adding that he had been lucky he was wearing glasses because they protected his eyes.
Afterwards, he continued to suffer stinging to his face, but did not seek further medical attention.
In sentencing today, Judge John Aylmer said this was a “callously premeditated” attack using a weapon, a cup of hot water.
He said Mr McGovern made “vicious use of his fists”, placing the incident at the upper end of the scale.
He said credit must be given for the guilty plea and that this is Mr McGovern’s first offence and will be his first time in prison.
He also noted Mr McGovern is in no way linked with the September 2019 attack on Kevin Lunney.
He sentenced Mr McGovern to three years and three months in prison for the assault on Kevin Lunney and five months for the assault on Mr O’Reilly – both to run concurrently.
He said time spent in custody between June and December last year prior to the granting of High Court bail should be taken into consideration.
