Barrister who headbutted creche boss loses appeal

A BARRISTER who broke a creche manager’s nose by headbutting her during an argument about collecting his son has lost an appeal against his conviction.

Michael Waters, 44, pictured, had branded the allegations made against him by businesswoman Marian Wallace ‘complete fiction’ when he was brought to trial in 2013. However, he was convicted of assaulting Ms Wallace in January 2012 at a Dublin creche.

Yesterday, his bid to overturn his conviction was rejected by three appeal judges on all grounds. At the time the assault took place, Waters was separated from his girlfriend and difficulties had arisen between them about who would pick up their son from creche, the court heard. On January 4, 2012, the Belfast-based lawyer went to the Busy Bees crèche on Dublin’s Kilmacud Road Lower and told Ms Wallace he was not leaving without his son, the court heard.

Ms Wallace said the accused told her he was going to bite her, and tried to bite her face and her hand.

She told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2013: ‘He leaned back against the door and looked at me quite coldly and said, “I’m going to hurt you.” Then he head-butted me straight into the face.’ Ms Wallace said Waters told her: ‘I did nothing to you, you did that to yourself.’ She was left with a fractured nasal bone and bruising to her eyes and arms.

Waters was found guilty in 2013 by a majority jury verdict of assaulting Ms Wallace and causing her harm.

In his appeal, he claimed the prosecution had ‘embellished’ evidence by telling the trial jury that he left Ms Wallace with a ‘broken nose’.

However, Judge John Edwards said the phrase ‘broken nose’ was a fair way to describe an assault resulting in any deviation of the septum.

After the verdict was announced, Waters told the court he was dropping a separate appeal against his three-year suspended sentence.