“Culprit With A Conscience” Victim Asks For Attacker Not To Be Given Jail Time

A young student who was assaulted on Grafton Street in 2011 has pleaded for his attacker to not be handed down jail time. Thomas Carter suffered a brain injury and required 41 stitches after the event.

Mr. Carter was out with friends following the Champions League final in May 2011 when the assault occurred. Two of the student’s friends had refused to pay a rickshaw driver and an argument had ensued. Mr. Carter knocked the driver’s hat off his head and Declan McGowan, a friend of the rickshaw driver intervened, punching him and knocking him to the ground.

According to the Irish Examiner, Carter went home to his girlfriend’s house but became violently ill and checked himself into hospital, where brain scans revealed internal bleeding. An operation was carried out and the victim required 41 staples. The matter was reported to the police and media.

When Mr. McGowan, an amateur boxer, discovered the serious nature of the injury, he called Beaumont Hospital to find out about the victim’s condition. He also called a journalist from the Evening Herald to check up on him.

Following a search, McGowan was arrested but on being shown photos of the victim’s injuries, burst into tears. He subsequently apologised to the victim in person. Mr. Carter added a section to the victim impact statement requesting that the young man not be sent to jail.

The court was adjourned for sentencing until May.