Member of Defence Forces handed himself in after being identified on 'Crimecall' programme
Portlaoise Courthouse
A SERVING member of the Defence Forces who handed himself in to gardaí after being identified on an RTÉ Crimecall programme accused of assaulting another man was granted the benefit of the Probation Act at Portlaoise District Court.
Barry Galvin (44), Willow Park, Carlow was before the court for sentencing after he was convicted of assault causing harm on 8 October 2023 in Kavanagh’s Bar and Venue, Portlaoise.
Garda Sgt Hughes said that while in the public house that night, Mr Galvin delivered two blows to the head of the injured party, which left him lying unconscious on the ground. He said the assault was captured on CCTV.
Sgt Hughes said the case had been adjourned for probation and restorative justice reports.
Solicitor for the defendant Tim Kennelly said that when his client was informed that he was the subject of a Crimecall programme arising from the assault, he voluntarily handed himself in to gardaí.
He said his client had initially contested the charge “on a technical issue. He accepts the court’s position (guilty verdict) and respects it.” He said Mr Galvin had entered the Defence Forces at the age of 17 and to date has served 26 years. “The Defence Forces is his life,” said Mr Kennelly.
He said on the night of the assault, his client had been out socialising. He had been in the smoking area of the public house when the injured party kept coming up to him, so much so that he got enraged and struck him.
Mr Kennelly said that when Mr Galvin heard that he was on Crimecall “he took alcohol and tablets and threw himself into the River Barrow. Thankfully, he was saved.” He said, growing up, his client had witnessed his father being constantly violent towards his mother. At one stage, his father slit his mother’s throat and received a five-year prison sentence.
He said upon his client’s father’s release from prison, he was in another relationship with another woman. That woman killed him. She was found not guilty of his murder.
Mr Kennelly said that Mr Galvin had never been in trouble in his life before the assault and hadn’t been since that night.
He said that if his client is given a recorded conviction that it would effectively end his career in the Defence Forces “and his 26 service to this country. The court, of course, must recognise that there was a victim in this case. Mr Galvin has brought €4,500 with him to court to compensate the injured party, which is a significant amount.” He said that the defendant had taken part in a drink awareness programme and was deemed by the probation services as being at low risk of reoffending.
“It was a monumental mistake he made. A once-off,” said Mr Kennelly.
Judge Andrew Gubbins noted the injuries the injured party had suffered. He had lost consciousness and vomited following the blows to the head he received from the defendant. He also noted that the victim’s social life has been seriously curtailed since the assault and that he continues to wake with nightmares over the incident.
Judge Gubbins said while it was Mr Galvin’s right to contest the case, he would have given him more credit if he hadn’t put the injured party through the ordeal of relieving the incident during the hearing of the case.
Her said Mr Galvin was of the view that the injured party had approached him numerous times on the night and was looking for trouble and “on the third occasion he lost his patience and struck him on the head. Mr Galvin is a member of the Defence Forces. He is well trained on how to deal with situations like that. He also enjoys the skills others in society do not have in defence tactics.” Judge Gubbins noted that the defendant undergoes regular drug tests in the Defence Forces and every one of them returned negative results. He also noted that he engaged positively with the Restorative Justice Programme, had no previous convictions and had not come to garda attention since the night of the assault.
Judge Gubbins also acknowledged that Mr Galvin “has accepted responsibility for his actions, has €4,500, which in my view is a significant amount of money.” He said he was reluctant to jeopardise Mr Galvin’s future career in the Defence Forces, adding that the assault “seemed to be an aberration in a somewhat unblemished history.” He then went on to apply the Probation Act section 1.1, which left Mr Galvin without a recorded conviction.
