Four young men will be sentenced later for their role in a street attack on night club goers and a DJ in the Temple Bar area over three years ago.

One of the victims, Ross Butler, was knocked unconscious in the initial fight and suffered seizures from bruising and swelling on his brain after being discharged from hospital. He was on medication to deal with seizures for seven months and was not allowed drive for a year.

Another victim, DJ Mark Jones, had to have a permanent cheek implant surgically fitted and was left with a number of fractured teeth following the attack.

Damilola Adeyemo (21) with an address Whitworth Place, Drumcondra pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Mr Butler and Mr Jones. He also pleaded guilty to stealing the DJ’s €200 headphones and bag of CDs at Eustace Street and Curved Street in the early hours of October 10, 2010.

Nero Omoruyi (20) of North Circular Road, pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Butler, Mr Jones and another club goer, Colm Ahern. He also pleaded guilty to producing a glass bottle.

Damilara Bammodu (20), now residing in hostel accommodation in Limerick, pleaded guilty to assaulting another man, Sean Maher, on the same date and to possessing stolen headphones at his then residence on October 28, 2010.

Oluwafemi Adetunji (21), now living with a family in Portlaoise, but with a previous address on Dublin’s North Circular Road, pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Ahern during the fight and to possessing a stolen DJ bag of CDs at his then North Circular Road home on October 28, 2010.

All four men pleaded guilty to violent disorder, which carries a maximum ten year penalty.

The detective inspector told Roisin Lacey BL, prosecuting, that the victims had been outside The Mezz Club when the fight broke out.

One witness told gardai he recalled “words being exchanged” between him and a group of four black men who had been walking towards the crowd outside the club. He said one of the group began squaring up to him and he next remembered seeing Mr Butler on the ground.

CCTV footage of the initial Eustace Street fight showed that this altercation stopped briefly and the parties separated, until Bammodu was seen running back into the crowd.

Mr Ahern, who suffered a number of punches to his head and a burst lip, told gardai he shouldered Bammodu into a bike rack when he saw the assailant sprinting back to his group.

Det Insp Cryan told Ms Lacey that the second part of the melee broke out at this point when the rest of the attackers followed Bammodu.

The fight spilled onto Curved Street, where Mr Jones was knocked to the ground unconscious after he chased father-of-one Adeyemo with his stolen bag.

Adeyemo has ten previous convictions for minor offences, including shoplifting and public order incidents. Adetunji, a father of two, has three previous minor convictions while Omoruyi and Bammodu have none.

Judge Desmond Hogan adjourned the matter pending a probation services report and to see if any of the men would be suitable for community service.

He warned that this did not mean he would be going down that route.

Online Editors