DECORATED Limerick hurling star Kyle Hayes was back in court this Monday, less than 24 hours after he was named Man of the Match in Limerick’s crushing defeat of Cork, waiting for confirmation that he would serve 180 hours of community service in lieu of a three-month jail sentence.
After confirming the order, however, the judge warned Mr Hayes that he would be going to prison if he committed further criminal offences.
Last April, a judge indicated he would impose the community service order in lieu of Hayes serving three months of an 18-month suspended jail sentence previously imposed on him.
The suspended term was imposed on Hayes after a jury convicted him on two counts of committing violent disorder inside and outside the Icon nightclub in Limerick City in 2019 – charges he denied at a trial in 2023.
This Monday, the judge reminded Hayes that all of the relevant legal “obligations and requirements” on him had been explained and “non-compliance” with the order would see the All-Star hurler going to jail.
“If there is non-compliance, you will be brought back before the court and the (three-month) sentence will be imposed,” the judge told Hayes.
The judge said he would make “no order” on the hurler’s second conviction for violent disorder, in respect of the same night at the nightclub in 2019.
The terms of the judgement order, specifically where and when Hayes will be starting his community service, were not dislocated in court.
The judge said the hurler must complete the community service order within 12 months.
Hayes’ barrister, senior counsel Brian McInerney, confirmed to the court that the probation service had deemed the hurler suitable for community service in lieu of a jail sentence.
“A suitable service has been selected and all other matters have been satisfied,” Mr McInerney told the court.
Hayes (26), of Ballyahsea, Kildimo, appeared as part of long-standing “section 99 re-entry” proceedings.
The hearing was initially triggered after Hayes engaged in dangerous driving at Mallow, County Cork, four months after the violent disorder concurrent suspended sentences of 18 months and two years were imposed on him in March 2024.
On July 14, 2024, Hayes was recorded by a Garda overtaking nine cars in a row on a stretch of the N20 Cork Limerick dual carriageway, while driving 55km/h above the 100km/h speed limit.
Hayes subsequently lost an appeal against the driving conviction, for which he was given a two-year driving ban and fined €250.
Previously summarising the events from the Icon nightclub, the judge said the Limerick hurler was one of two men who “aggressively approached” carpenter Cillian McCarthy, and that Hayes was one of a group of four who later on attacked Mr McCarthy inside the nightclub.
The judge said two Gardaí gave evidence at Hayes’ trial that they saw the hurler kicking a man lying on the street outside the nightclub, on the night, but the judge said there was no evidence before the court that the man on the ground was Cillian McCarthy.
The judge said the trial jury acquitted Hayes of a third charge, assault causing harm to Mr McCarthy. He said Kyle Hayes had paid €10,000 in damages to Mr McCarthy as part of the terms of the suspended sentences imposed on him.
The judge said sworn testimony by Kyle Hayes’ father, who told the court that he depended on Kyle to help him run their family farm after he underwent heart surgery, had not assisted nor swayed him in its final judgement.
