Thumptown Girl
Thug who launched brutal attack at Westlife concert is spared jail
A THUG who launched a “frightening, vicious and unprovoked” attack on a fellow attendee of a Westlife concert has avoided a jail term.
Jackie Walsh, 26, split the victim’s ear lobe during the assault after her earring got caught up when she was pulling fistfuls of the woman’s hair.
The woman said she could feel blood pouring down her face and could see clumps of her hair all over her shorts.
The victim, who didn’t make a victim impact statement because she is battling severe depression, was treated by a doctor at the concert.
Her ear was stitched and she was given an anaesthetic. While she complained of an extreme headache for days after, she didn’t require further treatment.
Walsh, of Clonard Park, Ballybeg, Co Waterford, admitted assault causing harm at Croke Park Stadium in July 2019. She has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since.
At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday Judge Melanie Greally said the “facts speak for themselves” and described it as “a frightening, vicious and
unprovoked assault which had immediate consequences for the victim”.
She said testimonials before the court indicate Walsh’s behaviour was “entirely out of character” and she was not normally a person who was “inclined to engage in violent conduct”.
Judge Greally accepted evidence from Det Sgt Stephen Coleman that Walsh was heavily intoxicated and genuinely didn’t recall the assault, which started after the victim indicated Walsh was sitting in her [the victim] boyfriend’s seat.
The judge acknowledged Walsh was a bright young woman with plenty of potential.
She noted she has mental health difficulties, which she was addressing before the assault and which she continues to address. Judge Greally sentenced Walsh to two-and-a-half years in prison which she suspended on condition she undergo 12 months’ Probation Supervision.
She acknowledged she saved €3,000 as a token of remorse for the victim who is willing to accept it. She ordered that the money be transferred within a week.