A MAN who beat a homeless man about his head with glass bottle, causing him a brain injury, has been jailed for five years with the final 12 months suspended.
Kevin Meehan (31), of Inbhear na Sionna, Shannon, County Clare, denied assaulting the man and said he did not accept the verdicts of a jury that found him guilty on all charges following his trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
The victim, a man in his 30s, had been bedding down for the night on a cardboard bed in a doorway situated off Liddy Street, Limerick City, on January 21, 2025.
Mr Meehan, a father of one, who has worked as a welder and fabricator, approached the victim, searched his pockets for money, and beat him without provocation, the court heard.
Judge Colin Daly said: “It was a callous vicious and cowardly attack, on an easy target.”
“It was a completely unprovoked and unwarranted assault on a vulnerable unsuspecting man who was settling down to sleep,” added the judge.
Meehan punched the victim in the face and beat him on the back of his head with a vodka bottle, his trial heard.
The victim, who sustained a bleed on his brain in the attack, identified Meehan to Gardaí when they arrived on the scene.
Meehan was arrested by Gardaí nearby a short time later.
Prosecuting barrister, John O’Sullivan, instructed by Limerick City State Solicitor Padraig Mawe, described the victim as a “somewhat vulnerable man” who had been “bedding down for the night”.
Giving evidence at Meehan’s trial, the victim said: “I was scared. I honestly don’t remember it stopping, I would have blacked out.”
“I had a bleed on my brain and numerous lacerations. The back of my head was very sore for a long time.”
The victim described himself as “a bloody mess” in photographs taken by Gardaí on the night and shown to the jury.
Gardaí gave evidence at Meehan’s trial that they came across him attempting to hug and kiss the victim after allegedly assaulting him.
Garda Katie Forde, Henry Street Garda Station, told the court she observed “blood pumping out of (the victim’s) face”. She said she directed Meehan to leave the area in order to ensure “the preservation of life”.
She said the victim told her he was “in fear for his life” and identified Meehan as his attacker.
Garda Forde said Meehan was “highly abusive” and “threatened to head-butt” her and a colleague when they apprehended him.
Meehan and the victim were not known to one another, and they had suffered addiction to alcohol and drugs, and were both intoxicated on the night, the court was told.
Meehan had pleaded guilty to being intoxicated on the night, and to possession of a hammer, and to causing criminal damage to the fast food store.
The court heard that Meehan has engaged with addiction services and was considered a “model prisoner” while awaiting sentence at Limerick Prison.
Meehan pleaded guilty to using a hammer to smash a window at a fast food premises in Limerick City earlier on the night he attacked the homeless man.
Judge Daly said Meehan went out “armed with a hammer” and caused unprovoked damage to the business premises.
Judge Daly imposed five years with the final 12 months for the assault, and imposed concurrent five-year and two-year sentences for the use of the vodka bottle during the assault, and the criminal damage, respectively.
Meehan had 48 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, making a threat to kill or cause serious harm, criminal damage, possession of drugs, and breaches of the public order act.
He is currently serving a sentence for committing assault in Ennis, County Clare, for which there is one-year and 10-months remaining.
– Court Reporting Scheme