Downpatrick man is jailed for unprovoked attack in drunken row

Downpatrick man is jailed for unprovoked attack in drunken row

9 January 2013

A DOWNPATRICK man has been jailed for 16 months after punching and then kicking a man as he lay on the ground.

Stuart Curran, of Kennedy Square, was sentenced at Downpatrick Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

The court heard he came to attention of police who saw him administer the kick on Scotch Street on June 12, 2011. Among the injuries are a permanent indentation on the victim’s nose.

Defence barrister, Eugene Grant QC, said the 21 year-old had no memory of assaulting the man.

“What it comes down to is that drunken one mistake,” he said.

While stating that Curran’s background circumstances were “pretty difficult and dysfunctional” he pointed out that he was not assessed as being of significant risk by Probation.

Judge David Smyth QC said the circumstances weren’t clear but that words had been exchanged concerning a young woman among a group of people on the street.

He described it as an “unprovoked” attack but said he did not believe Curran went out looking for a fight that night. He therefore allowed Curran to spend two years on licence in what was an overall custodial sentence of three years and four months.