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Eoghan MacConnell, 24 May
A man who headbutted the captain of a football team his son was playing
against apologised and spoke of his regret following the incident.
David Macmahon (46) of 25 Woodlands Park, Coill Dubh, Naas, Co Kildare
admitted headbutting the soccer player at Arlington FC football club in
Portarlington on April 23, 2023.
He appeared before Portlaoise District Court where Judge Andrew Cody
was asked to decide whether he would accept jurisdiction in the case
which the DPP had directed could only be heard in the district court if
a guilty plea was entered.
Judge Cody asked the injured party to approach the bench where he
inspected the scarring from the assault. He said the scars were
“visible enough” but agreed to accept jurisdiction in the case.
Garda Paul Dooley outlined the events of the day. He said there was a
soccer match taking place between Coill Dubh and Arlington FC. The
defendant was an assistant coach and his son was playing for Coill
Dubh. The injured party was the captain of the Arlington FC team.
The defendant’s son was fouled on the pitch and he entered the field of
play and began arguing with the captain before “he headbutted him into
the chin.”
Garda Dooley explained that the defendant had entered the pitch to
attend to his son but on seeing the player involved in the tackle he
“called him a foreign c**t” prompting the team captain to try and alert
the referee. He said as the captain exchanged words with the defendant
who approached him and headbutted him.
Paul Noctor BL said “Mr Macmahon’s son was fouled on the day and Mr
Macmahon thought he was injured.” He said the defendant was also
assaulted on the day and had been awarded compensation which he donated
to charity. He said the man wanted to apologise and he asked Judge Cody
to consider dealing with the matter by way of a charitable donation.
Judge Cody said he would deal with the matter through “proper and
reasonable” compensation.
Mr Noctor said the defendant had brought the sum of €1,000 to court.
The defendant asked to address the court.
“On the day in question I didn’t go out with the intention to harm
anybody,” he said.
He described himself as a hard working family man and said “I got
emotionally involved. My son was playing.”
He told the judge that football was a passion of his but he had stood
down from his role with the club since the incident.
“That morning I didn’t wake up with the intention of doing anybody
harm,” Mr Macmahon insisted.
Judge Cody said he believed a sum of €5,000 would be appropriate
compensation.
Mr Noctor said his client would have a lot of difficulty coming up with
that amount of money. He asked the judge to take into consideration the
early plea and the fact that his client had been contributing to his
community through his engagement with sports.
Judge Cody said he had great time for people who volunteer and help out
with sports clubs in their communities. However, he said the man had
“turned this contribution on its head by running onto the pitch and
headbutting a player…split his chin open.”
He pointed out that the player had to take time off work, suffered
headaches and had to pull over while driving after the incident. The
player had described it as a “harrowing experience”, said Judge Cody.
Mr Noctor suggested a sum of €3,000 and said “the reason why he entered
the pitch was to attend to his son.”
Garda Dooley was asked about the incident again. He explained that the
man’s son had been tackled towards the end of the game and the referee
gave a free.
“He shouted towards the offending player that he was a foreign c**t,”
he said. He said when the captain pointed out his comments he turned
and approached him before headbutting the captain and knocking him to
the ground.
Garda Dooley said the defendant didn’t follow up the attack but was
himself assaulted by someone else when a melee erupted. “By all
accounts it was a large fracas,” he said.
“€3,000 would cover his loss of earnings and his medical expenses,”
said Garda Dooley.
Judge Cody agreed to the sum of €3,000 and ordered that €1,000 be
handed over in court and the remainder be paid by June 13.
The defendant shook hands with the victim in the body of the court when
the case was finalised.