Limerick hurler punched man continuously in the head, court hears

A 24-year-old man has told a trial in Limerick that he was punched continuously in the head by Limerick All-Ireland winning hurler Kyle Hayes in a nightclub on the October bank holiday weekend in 2019.

Cillian McCarthy, from Ballysimon in Limerick, is giving evidence on the fourth day of a trial where Kyle Hayes is accused of assaulting Mr McCarthy, and two charges of violent disorder on 28 October 2019.

Mr Hayes denies the charges.

Jai Choudri, of Kildimo, is also charged with assault and violent disorder, and Craig Cosgrave of Grange C, Limerick, is charged with violent disorder on the same night.

Both deny the charges.

Mr McCarthy told the court that he was first approached by Mr Hayes in Smyths bar in Limerick when he [Cillian] was talking to two young women who were friends of his. He said Mr Hayes got abusive and did not like the fact he was talking to the girls.

He said Mr Hayes told him "stay the f**k away from the two girls I was talking to"‘ and indicated that he would start a fight.

Mr McCarthy said he was trying to explain that he was just chatting to the girls but this was not working and Mr Hayes did not want to hear that. He said Mr Hayes started saying "do you know who the f**k I am".

He said he left and went to the Icon nightclub which is attached to the bar and got approached again by Mr Hayes where he was again very abusive. He said Mr Hayes is a very big guy and his size is intimidating and he told Mr McCarthy he was sick of him.

He said Mr Hayes then punched him continuously on the right side of his head. Another man who was with Mr Hayes, but who is not on trial, was also involved in punching him. He said he received around ten blows to the head, at least half of which were administered by Mr Hayes.

He told the court he did not say anything or make any gesture that would provoke or egg anyone on to do this.

Mr McCarthy said bouncers intervened and took him to a side entrance. His eye was swelling and there was blood dripping down his face, and he was finding it very difficult to see.

He said he then left the nightclub alone, but encountered Mr Hayes and another man outside. He said they followed him and wanted to know his name. He said Mr Hayes was getting aggressive again and said he would "dig the head off him".

Mr McCarthy said he told him to "f**k" off and that he had already got a beating.

CCTV footage harvested from a number of premises on Denmark Street that night was shown to the jury, including footage of a large group of people running up the street.

Mr McCarthy said when he was outside he was chased up the street and was tripped onto the ground and he was attacked and stamped on. He identified Kyle Hayes and Jai Choudri, two of the accused men, as among that group that attacked him.

He said he received about 20 blows between punches and stamps which were continuous over a period of three to four minutes.

He said he had no doubt that Mr Hayes and Mr Choudri were among those who struck him, he said he knew them well.

Mr McCarthy said was stumbling all over the place, and remembers a garda picking him up after a squad car pulled up. An ambulance was called and he was attended to by paramedics before being brought to University Hospital Limerick.

He had to have surgery to his right eye as he had suffered a fractured orbit, which is the lower bone around the eye, and it had to be put back in place.

Under cross examination by Brian McInerney, counsel for Kyle Hayes, the witness Cillian McCarthy denied that he was the aggressor on the night in question, and that his motivation was to do damage to Kyle Hayes.

It was put to him that all Mr Hayes said to him that night was to butt out from talking to a girl who was going out with his friend and that that was the conversation that happened between them.

Mr McCarthy said he cannot remember that being said, but that he does remember Mr Hayes being aggressive and abusive to him when he was talking to girls who were friends of his since school.

He admitted that he did not seek help from gardai who were in in a squad car on the street after the first alleged assault because he was waiting for his friend Craig Cosgrave, who is also accused in the case.

Mr. McInerney also disputed that Mr Hayes ever said to a third party that he wanted a "one on one with Mr McCarthy around the corner".

Mr McCarthy said this was said to him by another man there on the night.

He also denied that he got stuck into an incident on the street involving Kyle Hayes' brother Cian Hayes, and that was why Kyle Hayes went across the street towards him that night.

The trial before a jury of seven men and five women is continuing at Limerick Circuit Court.