LIMERICK HURLER KYLE Hayes has received a fully suspended sentence following his conviction for violent disorder at a nightclub six years ago.

Hayes had pleaded not guilty to one count of assault causing harm to self-employed carpenter Cillian McCarthy outside the Icon nightclub on 28 October, 2019, as well as two counts of violent disorder, inside and outside the club on the same night.

Following a two-week trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court in December, a jury found Hayes not guilty of assault but guilty of both violent disorder offences.

He received an 18-month jail sentence for violent disorder inside Icon nightclub, and a two-year jail sentence for violent disorder on upper Denmark street outside the nightclub.

Both sentences are suspended fully and will run concurrently. 

Hayes has also been ordered to pay the victim Cillian McCarthy €10,000 in compensation for injuries and loss of earnings due to these injuries.

In January, the manager of the Limerick senior hurling team, John Kiely, asked a judge not to jail Hayes following his conviction for violent disorder.

Kiely, who is a school teacher, pleaded with Judge Dermot Sheehan to give four-time All-winner, Hayes, “a second chance”.

“Every young man deserves a second chance,” he told the court. 

Kiely said he hoped Hayes will be available for selection when the Limerick hurling team chases its fifth successive All-Ireland title later this year.

However he acknowledged that the player had “let down” his family, teammates, and his loyal young fans “who look up to him”.

Kiely said he was “not in the slightest” condoning what Hayes did on the night.

Kiely said he had viewed the CCTV footage of the dance floor violence and described Hayes’ behaviour as “very disappointing”.

However, Kiely told the court: “He (Kyle Hayes) is somebody I trust, he has a very strong work ethic, he’s a strong leader, he puts his team first and himself last, he is someone I could rely on even in the most difficult of circumstances”.

The Limerick hurling boss said he believed that Hayes “accepts his very disappointing part in that night… He regrets it, he is very sorry”.

Kiely said Hayes had already “paid a heavy price” because of the media covering the court case, and said he believed that Hayes had “taken responsibility for his actions”.

In his victim impact statement to the court, Cillian McCarthy said he had been “easy going, hard working, enjoying life, loved playing sport, was ambitious” but the night in question, “all this changed”.

McCarthy said he was left “terrified” after the dance-floor attack and after he was escorted outside the club by bouncers nursing a “pounding” head and swollen eye.

He said he felt “alone and afraid” when set upon a second time outside the club by a group of males.

He said he has been left suffering persistent and severe headaches, blurred vision and underwent surgery for a fractured bone to his right eye.

The attacks had “a profound impact” on him and his family who are now in a constant state of fear whenever he leaves his home.

“My biggest fear has been returning to socialising in Limerick again for fear I would meet these people again.”

McCarthy said that afterwards he received hateful messages from people online in which “photos of me were circulated on social media with nasty comments”.

He said his “confidence, work and family” had all been negatively impacted.

Written by David Raleigh and posted on TheJournal.ie