Seven years in jail for attacker after victim was left ‘prisoner in his own body’

Tom Tuite

A carpenter who inflicted a "catastrophic" brain injury on a devoted family man with a single blow during a drunken assault in Mullingar has been jailed for seven years.

Paul Earley, 60, who had consumed 11 pints, knocked now 57-year-old Thomas "Toss" Maher to the ground on Patrick Street in the Co Westmeath town on January 7th last year.

Earley "walked away and never looked back" with no recollection of the devastating injuries he caused.

On Tuesday, at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Keenan Johnson described it as a tragic case that has left Mr Maher "a prisoner in his own body" after the unprovoked, vicious assault.

He noted from video evidence that following an earlier complaint about him in a pub, Earley made a beeline and, followed the victim and used "massive force" when he either headbutted or pushed the victim. The judge thought Earley used his head and remarked, "The life of the victim and his family will never be the same."

Judge Johnson described the offence as reprehensible but also a complete aberration for the accused.

The charge can carry a life sentence.

In his 10-page ruling, Judge Johnson held this case warranted a sentence of nine years and six months. However, considering the mitigating factors, including lack of prior convictions, remorse and his early guilty plea, he reduced it to seven years imprisonment.

He ordered that €30,000 offered by Earley as restitution go to the Maher family. He also called for better funding for victims and criticised the inadequacies of the victim's compensation scheme.

The court heard Mr Maher, a grandfather and married father of five, had gone out that night for his "usual few quiet pints" but never came home.

His wife and children watched the proceedings from the court's public gallery.

Mr Maher remains bedridden or in a wheelchair in a high- facility, requiring round-the-clock care. Unable to speak, stand or recognise his family, he is fed by a tube.

Earley, a father of three of Donearl House, Meedin, Tyrells, Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Thomas Maher.

Self-employed carpenter Earley had no prior convictions, and character references were furnished to the court, which heard he rarely left his home since the incident. The judge noted he had apologised profusely and prayed all the time for the victim.

Dressed in a grey suit and blue shirt, Earley held back tears silently throughout the hearing and was accompanied to court by friends and relatives.

Detective Garda Vincent Reynolds agreed with prosecutor Cathal Ó Braonáin BL, instructed by the State solicitor for Westmeath, Matt Shaw, that Mr Maher had been socialising in a bar on Patrick Street.

The taxi driver was not known to Earley, who arrived later, having been drinking in other pubs in the town earlier.

The packed courtroom heard Earley, then 59, had about 11 pints in various establishments and was "well sauced". He had an interaction with Mr Maher in the toilets.

Afterwards, Mr Maher informed the bar manager and patrons that the accused had poked or pushed him in the ribs.

After talking to the manager, the accused said sorry to Mr Maher, who accepted his apology.

However, Earley followed him outside when the injured party left the bar shortly before 1.30 am.

No one saw what happened, but shortly after he left, ers-by found Mr Maher on the ground and thought he had been hit by a car. They placed him in the recovery position, and an ambulance arrived.

He was partially on the street, his head less than a foot from the kerb.

Paramedics observed a large amount of blood coming from his head and right ear; his breathing was irregular, he was making grunting noises, and it was clear he had suffered a traumatic head injury.

They brought him to Midlands Regional Hospital Mullingar, where he was placed on a ventilator, and CT scans revealed multiple skull fractures and brain bleeds.

He was transferred to Dublin's Beaumont Hospital and remained in the intensive care unit for a month before returning to his local hospital.

Over the following months, Mr Maher had more movement and could speak to greet people using jumbled words.

He was transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital, but the earlier signs of progress reversed. The court heard he could no longer stand or communicate and was severely disfigured, with the left side of his skull having been removed.

He will require lifelong care in a high-dependency nursing home.

Counsel said CCTV showed the accused headbutting and pushing the injured party, causing him to fall to the ground and strike his head, resulting in the catastrophic injury.

The camera also captured him looking down on Mr Maher before walking away.

Once Earley was identified, Detective Garda Reynolds went to his home later that day, and the accused said he had no recollection of any incident.

Earley called the bar, and at that point, he learned it was believed he had attacked Mr Maher, the court heard.

In an interview, he apologised several times while expressing his hope that Mr Maher would recover. The detective agreed with defence counsel John Shortt SC that the two men did not know each other beforehand. Mr Shortt described it as a quick single-blow type event.

The accused had been drinking despite being on medication for heart problems, and the judge said the case highlighted the dangers of mixing alcohol while taking medicine.

Earley had also recently learned that a close friend had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Moving victim impact statements from Mr Maher's wife, Tina, and their adult children were read in court.

Tina Maher said her life ended on the night of the attack.

His heartbroken family said Mr Maher, who they visit constantly, was now a "shell" of the man they knew, and the court heard that all he could do for himself was breathe while the family was left in limbo.

Judge Johnson said the victim had set a shining example, and his loved ones have become secondary victims of the attack.