Kyle Hayes assault trial shown footage of fight on Limerick nightclub dancefloor
Hayes Of Assault Harm Disorder Causing Mitting With Counts Kyle One And Been Picture: Two Count Charged Of Gleeson Has Brendan Violent
Video footage of a fight which broke out on a “jammed” nightclub dancefloor was shown to a court in the trial of three men, including a five-time All-Ireland winning Limerick hurler, for assault.
Kyle Hayes, 25, of Ballyashea, Kildimo, Co. Limerick, has been charged with one count of assault causing harm to Cillian McCarthy, (24), of Toureen, Ballysimon, Co. Limerick, outside the ICON nightclub in the early hours of October 28, 2019.
The four-time All-Star Limerick hurler is also charged with two counts of committing violent disorder, including earlier on one occasion inside the nightclub, and later on during the alleged street attack on Mr McCarthy.
A co-accused, Craig Cosgrave, (24), of Caherally, Grange, Co. Limerick, is charged with violent disorder inside the ICON on the same date. A third accused, Jai Chaudri, (22), of Carheeny, Kildimo, is also charged with assault causing harm to Mr McCarthy and with one count of violent disorder outside the ICON on the same date.
All three have pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. They sat side by side opposite the jury of seven men and five women at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday.
The court saw footage of a dancefloor in the night club where “quite a few people were bopping away” before a fight broke out. It also saw footage taken from the street outside the nightclub.
Some disagreement arose when barrister Brian McInerney, SC for Mr Hayes, referred to Mr McCarthy as being “ejected” from the night club. Detective Garda Barry Moylan said that “he was not being ejected as such".
He said Mr McCarthy “had been subject to quite a vicious assault”. He may have been unsteady on his feet and was being assisted by security, Det. Gda Moylan said. However, he said that he would not go as far as to say that he needed medical assistance.
Disagreement was also voiced as to whether the alleged victim, Mr McCarthy, "weaved through the packed dancefloor" at ICON nightclub towards the accused, Mr Hayes. Mr McInerney suggested that Mr McCarthy, moved towards his client on the dancefloor where “quite a few people were bopping away” before a fight broke out.
“Cillian McCarthy was nudged by some dancer, then he takes two steps forward to where my client is enjoying his night,” Mr McInerney said. “The place is jammed, Cillian McCarthy has to weave in amongst dancers, he makes the first approach,” Mr McInerney said.
But Det. Gda Moylan disagreed with this assessment. “I don’t believe so," he said. “I have to conclude both men are moving across the dancefloor based on that footage.”
Mr McCarthy was “the subject of an attack by a number of males,” Det. Gda Moylan said.
Some people were pulled from the dancefloor by security staff. The fight lasted “just seconds”, according to barrister for Mr Hayes, Brian McInerney SC.
Young women could be seen dancing just feet from the brawl and they moved into the space emptied on the dancefloor as the brawl dispersed.
Before the fight broke out, Mr McInerney said that Mr McCarthy pulled another man on the dancefloor, propelling the person backwards. He also said that he pushed someone.
However, Det. Gda Moylan said that he saw Mr McCarthy putting his arm on another man’s shoulder "to make space" but he could not say that he pulled him. Neither did he agree that Mr McCarthy pushed another person on the dancefloor.
“The overwhelming majority of patrons were dancing away oblivious,” Mr McInerney said.
Another video clip, captured on the street outside the nightclub, showed Mr McCarthy on the opposite side of the road from the camera. Mr McInerney noted that he was very near a taxi but he did not leave in a taxi.
The footage also shows what appears to be a garda patrol car further down the road. “There was a patrol car feet away from the alleged victim—if someone bothered to tap on the window and say ‘I’ve been attacked’ would they [gardaí] jump out and help?” Mr McInerney asked Det. Gda Moylan.
On Tuesday, it was alleged in court that Mr Hayes “kicked and punched” a man who was lying defenceless on a street after he became “upset” that the man had spoken to two females in a nightclub he was socialising in.
Mr Hayes “fled" from the scene of the alleged attack, outside the ICON nightclub on Upper Denmark Street, Limerick City, and was arrested by gardaí a short time later, the court heard. Two gardaí allegedly witnessed Mr Hayes and others attacking the victim outside the nightclub on October 28, 2019.
Questions were raised in court about a jumping timestamp on a video clip of the brawl.
Det. Gda Moylan and Det. Gda Jonathan Finn from Henry Street Garda Station, who has trained in CCTV retrieval, insisted that although the time stamp jumped forward, the footage itself remained consistent and the video of the dancefloor brawl had not been clipped or interfered with.
Mr McInerney suggested that gardaí had made mistakes in not checking that the time was correct.
It was accepted that mistakes may have been made regarding timestamps but gardaí insisted that the footage of the brawl was consistent and had not been clipped.
“It is absolutely not a possibility that there is a gap in that footage,” Det. Gda Moylan said. Det Gda Finn said that the timestamp anomaly may have been due to storage issues when transferring the footage.
The alleged victim, Mr McCarthy is due to give evidence on Thursday. The trial was delayed due to some inconsistencies with evidential material provided by the prosecution.
“A lot of time has been taken up today, your time has been wasted and it should not have been,” Judge Sheehan said to the jury.
“I know that you are sensible and understand that errors can be made. I’ll rely on your common sense to put it out of mind. Pay no attention to it. It is not evidence in this case,” he said.