By Claire Henry
A chef who bit the shoulder of his co-worker twice while they were working has been handed a one-year suspended sentence.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that John O’Toole (33) of Elmdale Close, Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm at the Clayton Hotel Liffey, Valley, Dublin, on July 17, 2023. He has no previous convictions.
Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Pauline Codd said the aggravating factors in this case were that the offending occurred in a place of work and that the injured party was entitled to feel safe and have her boundaries respected. She noted the impact of this offending on the woman has been substantial and her relationship with her family has been affected.
Judge Codd said she had seen images of the bite and said, “I can only say that it was bizarre behaviour and the fact that he came back and did it a second time, beggars belief.”
The judge placed the offending in the upper end of the lower range and set a headline sentence of eighteen months.
The judge then noted the mitigating factors in this case, which were that O’Toole had reached his mid-thirties with no convictions, his work history, his personal circumstances, and that he has taken proactive steps by attending a therapist and is addressing his behaviour.
Judge Codd sentenced him to one year in prison but suspended it in full for one year. She ordered him to pay €3,000 to the injured party within the next six months.
Garda Rebecca Lloyd told prosecuting counsel that the injured party in this case, was working in the restaurant area of the hotel with a colleague when O’Toole, who was a chef, came up to them and said his partner was coming in at 9 pm and made a booking for her in the restaurant. At 6.20 pm, O’Toole returned to the dining area and came up behind the injured party and bit her on the shoulder. She described to the gardaí as being in “shock” and said she just “froze”.
The court heard that the woman who had been placing a drinks order onto the computer system at the time continued to do so. She said to O’Toole, “John, do you realise that I cannot feel that – it is doing nothing?” The woman said this passively in the hope that he would go away.
O’Toole replied, “Oh, really,” and bit down harder on her shoulder. The woman was embarrassed that this was happening in front of customers and was afraid of what would happen next. O’Toole then asked her, “Do you like it rough in the bedroom?” The woman did not answer and walked to a different area of the restaurant.
The woman went to the bathroom because her shoulder was “throbbing.” She took a picture of the bite mark and sent it to her partner, who also worked at the hotel. A colleague then brought her to the duty manager and showed him the picture of the bite. The woman left work early and the following day attended her GP, who prescribed her antibiotics and gave her a tetanus injection. Later that day, she made a complaint to the gardaí.
The court heard that O’Toole attended for a voluntary interview. He gave the gardaí his account of what had happened on the day in question. He told gardaí, “I honestly don’t know why I would bite her. It was the most stupid thing I had done in my life.”
He told gardaí that he had texted the woman and her partner after the incident to apologise.
The woman read her victim impact statement to the court, which said: “I was petrified that it would escalate. I immediately thought I would be assaulted more if I did not leave. I felt disgusted and violated.”
She described O’Toole’s apology text as “salt to the wound; and I did not find it genuine.” She highlighted how no chef would speak with me at work, and “I was told to be grateful that he apologised.”
She said, “It has been a year and I still can’t sleep properly.”
Judge Pauline Codd addressed the woman directly, saying, “It is not your fault. Don’t allow this to influence how you feel about yourself. I wish you well.”
Mr James Dwyer SC, defending, handed letters into the court on behalf of his client. The letters described O’Toole as an honest and hard-working man. A female friend wrote that she “feels safe and comfortable” around him and described him as a “gentleman”.
Counsel said his client left school after his leaving cert and developed a passion for cooking. He had worked in the hotel for ten years but had just handed in his notice in advance of this incident.
He said O’Toole has now taken steps to ensure that this will never happen again.
He asked the court to design a sentence taking his early guilty plea and lack of previous convictions into consideration.