Two Castleisland men have expressed remorse for their roles in an assault which left a man with a permanent brain injury.

In July, a jury found 25-year-old Sean Lane of 51 An Caisléan Mór, Castleisland guilty of assaulting Eamon Sheehy causing him serious harm in St Stephen’s Park, Castleisland on January 14th 2018.

He and his co-accused 20-year-old Jason Broderick, also known as Jason Keane-Broderick, of 49 St John’s Park, Castleisland, were also found guilty of producing an article capable of causing intimidation or injury; namely a baseball bat.

Tralee Circuit Court previously heard, the accused men had been throwing stones at the Eamon Sheehy’s house prior to the incident; Mr Lane used the baseball bat to knock a golf club from the victim’s hand before hitting him over the head a number of times.

Mr Sheehy’s mother said she could only recognise her son by a tattoo following the altercation.

Senior Defence Counsel Blaise O’Carroll said his client Sean Lane has deep profound remorse for the injuries sustained by Mr Sheehy, it was the last thing on his mind that anything of this nature would take place; Mr Lane felt he acted in self-defence.

If it were not for the confrontation, he said, Mr Lane would have gone safely home.

Mr O’Carroll said his client has a learning difficulty and suffered a brain injury and mental health issues following an assault in a nightclub; Mr Lane also became addicted to cannabis.

Mr O’Carroll said there was an underlying current of the femme fatale and urged the court to bare that in mind in the context of this incident.

Senior Defence Counsel for Jason Broderick, Anthony Sammon said his client, who had the baseball bat that night, is very remorseful but he didn’t bludgeon Mr Sheehy’s head and cause him permanent brain damage.

There was no evidence that the father of twins had handed the baseball bat to Sean Lane, Mr Sammon said.

He urged the court to deal with Mr Broderick, who he described as vulnerable, by means of a non-custodial sentence.

A letter of apology written by Mr Broderick was given to Eamon Sheehy’s mother, who was in court for the hearing.

Senior Prosecuting Counsel Roisin Lacey handed in an updated Victim Impact Statement and medical report on Eamon Sheehy.

Judge Tom O’Donnell will give his judgement in the case on February 11th.