Former Irish boxing champion pleads guilty to violent unprovoked attack – Home

Sean McCarthy

A former Irish boxing champion carried out a violent, unprovoked attack on his way home from a night out after spiraling out of control on drugs during the Covid lockdown, a court heard.

Michael Nevin, 26, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm contrary to section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offenses Against the Person Act 1997 in Mountmellick Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, on November 23, 2022.

Portlaoise District Criminal Court heard that Darragh Kinch was attacked by a small group of people, including the accused, at around 1am as he waited with his partner Catriona O’Neill for a lift home.

The defense gave evidence that Mr Kinch needed a metal plate implanted in his face as part of treatment for his injuries.

Garda Aisling O’Boyle told the court that the accused was identified from a series of CCTV images in Portlaoise which also captured part of the attack.

Garda O’Boyle said they found Nevin and two others – Christy Nevin and Rosalyn Nevin – had spent some time in the town and appeared quite intoxicated as they headed home.

She observed that the group “appeared to be looking for a fight” around the time they approached the victim and his partner.

The court heard that Rosalyn Nevin punched Ms O’Neill in the face, causing her glasses to fall to the ground.

Garda O’Boyle said Mr Kinch was punched and kicked by the accused as he bent down to pick up his partner’s glasses.

She said the victim was kicked several times in the head and body before Nevin was dragged away.

A witness said Nevin, who was seen on CCTV raising his arms in a celebratory fashion during the attack, was also heard threatening to kill Mr Kinch.

She agreed with DPP counsel Will Fennelly BL that the two men were complete strangers.

Garda O’Boyle said clothing seized by gardaí during a search of Nevin’s home matched that of Mr Kinch’s attacker.

Mr Fennelly noted that the defendant and Christy Nevin both appeared to be in a “boxing-style pose” in CCTV images, although Judge Keenan Johnson noted that the defendant appeared “submissive” in earlier images.

The court heard that Mr Kinch spent two days in the emergency department of Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise and three days in St James’s Hospital in Dublin, where he underwent several surgical procedures to treat facial injuries, which included a broken jaw.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Kinch said he had no idea what started as a surprise dinner would end up with “such catastrophic consequences”.

Eclipse

The victim said he was knocked unconscious by the attack, which left him with a broken jaw, nose and fracture around his eye.

Mr Kinch said he was in excruciating pain during the week he had to wait for the operation and had to go on a soft diet for six weeks.

He also said the attack affected him financially and professionally because of the time it took him to take time off work.

The court heard that both he and his partner suffered from sleep disturbances while experiencing the incident and he was in both physical and emotional pain.

Mr Kinch said they also had to change their lifestyle as they now avoided socializing in Portlaoise and lost some friends as a result.

“Feeling vulnerable and not feeling safe is damaging,” he said.

The court heard that Nevin, who was a bronze medalist at the 2019 European middleweight championships, was one fight away from qualifying for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics when he retired from the sport.

As evidence, the boxer stated that he still does not remember anything from the night of the attack.

The unemployed father-of-two, of Harpers Lane, Portlaoise, who has no previous convictions, said he was truly sorry for his victim and Mr Kinch’s family.

“They shouldn’t have had to go through this,” Nevin said.

“I’ve never fought outside the ring other than that time,” he noted.

Nevin told the court he had no time to grieve his mother’s suicide death when he was 14, as he was boxing the next day.

He noted: “Boxing was my whole life. When Covid came I fell into a real depression. I didn’t know what to do.”

It became known in court that before the pandemic, he trained three times a day because he was an “elite athlete.”

However, Nevin admitted to being in bad company, using cocaine and drinking daily, but stressed that he had given up drugs and alcohol for the past two years.

“I regret everything,” he added.

He told the court that he has also returned to boxing and plans to “turn pro”.

Judge Johnson observed that the defendant’s hands were “weapons because of your training” and said it was a tragedy that he was in bad company.

Defense counsel, Damien Colgan, SC, noted that Nevin had previously pleaded guilty and also noted that other parties were involved in the incident in which the accused was not the instigator.

However, Mr Colgan said Nevin accepted he had returned to attack Mr Kinch during the incident.

The lawyer said his client was a “talented boxer” who showed an understanding of his crime.

Judge Johnson accepted that the attack was an “aberration” for Nevin in a flawless career in which he had achieved considerable success with the potential for more in the future.

He remanded Nevin on bail until the same court in November to allow time to raise funds to offer him as a victim.

The judge said the defendant was lucky to have a father who was a “very good role model” who raised his eight children on his own after their mother’s death.