Man jailed for assisting in assault which left 19-year-old with ‘catastrophic’ brain injury

A man has been jailed for 15 months for his role in assisting a teenager in an assault which left a young man with a “catastrophic” brain injury.

The victim, Kean Doherty was 19 at the time of the assault. A 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons carried out the attack and was known to Paul Burgess (43), who has now been jailed for assisting the teenager.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Burgess assisted the boy by driving with him to the area, where Burgess pushed Mr Doherty against railings, then forced him to the ground before striking him.

The assault happened on December 28, 2018 at Ballyvaughan Lane, Lucan, Co. Dublin.

At the time of the assault, Mr Doherty had been released from the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) to spend Christmas with his family. He was being treated at the hospital after sustaining serious head and brain injuries following a road traffic accident in June 2018. 

Mr Doherty was taken to hospital following the assault, which exacerbated the injuries he sustained in the road traffic accident.

The teenager who carried out the attack received a formal caution and was dealt with under the youth diversion scheme, the court heard.

Mr Doherty's mother Samantha read a powerful victim impact statement to the court, in which she said her son suffered a “catastrophic” brain injury following the assault.

She said the family had been excited Kean was coming home for Christmas and were overjoyed by his progress at the NRH.

Ms Doherty described arriving at the scene and her son being taken to hospital. She said it was like “déjà vu” for the family, as Kean was treated in the hospital where he suffered a stroke due to brain clots following the attack.

“We had to sit and watch our son fight for life over the actions of others,” she said, adding that the family “prepared for a funeral” while “praying for a miracle”.

Burgess (43) pleaded guilty to a count of assisting an offender on December 28, 2018.

After hearing the facts, Judge Martin Nolan adjourned the case overnight to consider his verdict. He then handed Burgess a 15-month sentence, saying he had put Mr Doherty in a position of danger where he was attacked.

Judge Nolan said Burgess had no idea of the vulnerability of Mr Doherty and had not intended for this to occur. Judge Nolan said: “I’m sorry to have to imprison him (Burgess) because I think he’s a decent man, but in this case, he deserves it.”

The court heard Burgess drove with the teenager to the lane. After getting out of the car, he pushed Mr Doherty onto railings, then swept his feet from under him, forcing him to the ground. 

The teenager then got out of the car and struck Mr Doherty around four times. Burgess helped Mr Doherty to sit up against the railings before he left the scene with the boy.

Burgess, of Mount Bellew Green, Lucan, Co. Dublin attended his local garda station voluntarily the following day after gardaí sought information on the assault.

He told gardaí he went with the boy to look for the person who tried to take the teenager's bike. After Mr Doherty was pointed out as someone who had been involved, Burgess said he got out of the car, grabbed Mr Doherty and spoke to him.

Burgess has five previous convictions, all for road traffic offences.

Dominic McGinn SC, defending, said Burgess was a “hard-working family man” who went to the gardaí when he realised there was an investigation and recognised, in hindsight, that he should not have acted as he did.