Two men (35) jailed for assault on couple which man had part of ear bitten off

By Claire Henry and Isabel Hayes

Two men who assaulted a couple nearly a decade ago, leaving a man with part of his ear bitten off, have been jailed for 13 months and eight months respectively.

After he bit the man, Ciaran Whelan (35) shouted: “Look at how much of his ear I've got”, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Whelan, of Gloucester Place, Sean McDermott St, Dublin 1, and his co-accused Robert Costello (also 35) of Liberty House, Dublin 1, both pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm to the man and woman.

The offence occurred at Findlater Place, Dublin 1, on August 9th, 2016.

The maximum sentence for assault causing harm during that period is five years.

Night of assault

Garda Peter Byrne told Pieter LeVert BL, prosecuting, that the couple, originally from Mongolia, were walking home after a dinner to celebrate their anniversary.

Costello and Whelan were walking ahead of the couple, and then Costello stopped to urinate. As the couple walked past him, Costello said: “Hey, you fucking dickheads.”

The man in the couple stopped and spoke with Costello. Costello then shouted up the street for Whelan.

The court heard that while Whelan was returning down the street, Costello told the couple to suck his dick. Whelan then picked up a traffic cone and threw it at the couple.

A fight broke out, with the injured party trying to defend himself. All three men ended up on the ground, and Whelan bit part of the man's ear off.

Whelan jumped up and said, “I’ve bitten him, I’ve bitten him, look at how much of his ear I’ve got”.

Gda Byrne said the woman was also assaulted. Costello pulled her by the hair, took her handbag and hit her with it. She screamed for help.

Injuries

When the gardaí arrived at the scene, both Costello and Whelan were aggressive and said the couple were liars.

An ambulance was called, and the couple was taken to hospital for treatment.

A medical report was handed into the court that outlined that the male injured party sustained an injury where one-third of his ear had become separated from the remainder of his ear.

He had a CT scan and had a skin graft from his scalp transferred to his ear. The woman sustained a fracture to her nasal bone and underwent surgery in Mongolia.

Two victim impact statements were handed into the court on behalf of the couple who were not present in court as they have since returned to Mongolia.

Sentencing Whelan and Costello on Friday, Judge Munro said Whelan had engaged in the “lifelong maiming of another person”.

“This is the devastation caused to two persons' lives, it's not a small thing,” he said, adding the whole episode was “so pointless, so avoidable”.

He noted Whelan and Costello were at the “wrong end” of two days of drink and drug-taking and were highly intoxicated at the time of the offence.

He said they engaged in “mindless abuse” of the couple, who were out to enjoy their anniversary.

He noted that due to Whelan and Costello taking a trial date, the couple had to fly back to Ireland from Mongolia in 2024 for court proceedings, before the pair entered guilty pleas.

Effect of assault

The man said the attack had a “profound effect on him”, he said that he no longer felt safe in Ireland. He described feeling guilty for not being able to protect his wife.

His wife said that in the wake of the attack, she “feels intense fear when walking alone”. She also described being anxious and easily startled.

Costello has 29 previous convictions, with his last conviction dating back to 2017. Whelan has 33 previous convictions, with his last conviction in 2012.

Whelan had a sum of €4,000 in court as a token of his remorse to the victims, while Costello had a sum of €1000.

Judge Munro noted this was a good sum of money, but it would just about cover the victims for the medical costs they incurred as non-EU citizens and their flights back to Ireland for the trial.

In relation to Whelan, Judge Munro set a headline sentence of four years. In mitigation, he noted that since this offence, Whelan has “conquered a savage addiction” to drugs and has rehabilitated himself.

He reduced the sentence to three years and four months and suspended the final 27 months of it on a number of conditions.

He noted a period of imprisonment will be devastating for Whelan given his personal family circumstances, but that avoiding a custodial sentence would be “an affront” to the injured parties.

He noted Whelan's sentence would have been three times more but for his mitigation and rehabilitation.

In relation to Costello, Judge Munro noted he “didn't bite anyone's ear off” but that the two men were “in it together”. He noted Costello has more serious previous offences than Whelan.

He set a headline sentence of two and a half years, which he reduced to two years taking mitigating factors into account. He suspended the final 16 months of that sentence on a number of conditions.

Gda Byrne agreed with Patrick McCarthy BL, defending Costello, that the guilty plea was beneficial to the prosecution and that his client was not responsible for the ear injury. The gardai accepted that Costello had addiction issues at the time but has now made strides in dealing with this.

Mr McCarthy said his client “feels he was confronted by the couple, but he accepts that the matter escalated”. He said Costello accepts his actions and is remorseful. The court heard that Costello had a very difficult childhood and drug addictions.

Counsel said when his client viewed the CCTV footage, he described it as “looking at someone else”. Mr McCarthy asked the court to consider the strides his client has made, his guilty plea and his family obligations when sentencing.

Garreth McCormack SC, defending Whelan, said his client was of the belief that Costello was under attack, which is why he threw the traffic cone.

The garda agreed with counsel that Whelan took responsibility for biting the man's ear at the scene immediately.

He also agreed Whelan was highly intoxicated on the night in question and has addiction issues.