Two men jailed for biting off ear of Mongolian man

By Claire Henry

Two men who assaulted a Mongolian couple, resulting in the man having one-third of his ear bitten off, will be sentenced later this year.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Robert Costello (35) of Liberty House, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm. His co-accused, Ciaran Whelan (35) of Glouster Place, Sean McDermott St, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm. The offending occurred at Findlater Place, Dublin 1, on August 9, 2016.

Garda Peter Byrne told Pieter LeVert  BL, prosecuting, that a Mongolian couple were walking home after being out for dinner to celebrate their anniversary.

Costello and Whelan were walking ahead of the couple, and then Costello stopped to urinate. As the couple walked past him, he said, “Hey, you fucking dickheads”. The man in the couple stopped and spoke with Costello. Costello then shouted up the street for Whelan.

The court heard that while Whelan was returning down the street, Costello told the couple to suck his dick. Whelan then picked up a traffic cone and threw it at the couple.

A fight then broke out, with the injured party trying to defend himself. All three men ended up on the ground, and Whelan bit part of the man’s ear off. Whelan jumped up and said, “I’ve bitten him, I’ve bitten him, look at how much of his ear I’ve got”.

Gda Byrne said the female in the couple was also assaulted. Costello pulled her by the hair, took her handbag and hit her with it. She screamed for help.

When the gardai arrived at the scene, both Costello and Whelan were aggressive and passed remarks that the couple were liars. An ambulance was called, and the couple were taken to hospital for treatment.

A medical report was handed into the court that outlined that the male injured party sustained an injury where one-third of his ear had become separated from the remainder of his ear. He had a CT scan and had a skin graft from his scalp transferred to his ear. The female injured party sustained a fracture to her nasal bone and underwent surgery in Mongolia.

Two victim impact statements were handed into the court on behalf of the couple who were not present in court as they returned to Mongolia.

The male injured party the attack had a “profound effect on him”, he said that he no longer felt safe in Ireland. He described feeling “guilty for not being able to protect his wife”.

The female injured party described that she “feels intense fear when walking alone”. She also described being “anxious and easily startled”.

Costello has 29 previous convictions with his last conviction dated in 2017. Whelan has 33 with his last conviction in 2012.

Gda Byrne agreed with Patrick McCarthy BL, defending Costello, that the guilty plea was beneficial to the prosecution and that his client was not responsible for the ear injury. The gardai accepted that Costello had addiction issues at the time but has now made strides in dealing with this.

Mr McCarthy said his client “feels he was confronted by the couple, but he accepts that the matter escalated”. He said Costello accepts his actions and is remorseful. The court heard that Costello had a very difficult childhood and drug addictions.

Counsel said when his client viewed the CCTV footage, he described it as “looking at someone else”. Mr McCarthy asked the court to consider the strides his client has made, his guilty plea and his family obligations when sentencing.

Garreth McCormack BL, defending Ciaran Whelan, put it to Gda Byrne that his client was of the belief that Costello was under attack, which is why he threw the traffic cone, to which he agreed.

The garda agreed with counsel that Whelan took responsibility for biting the man’s ear at the scene immediately. He also agreed that Whelan was highly intoxicated on the night in question and has addiction issues.

He said Whelan had €3,000 in court as a practical expression of remorse and would like time to collect a further sum. He said his client wants to do everything he can to put things right.

Mr McCorrmack told the court that Whelan had a difficult childhood and had addiction issues. He is now currently waiting on a placement for a 14-week drug rehabilitation programme.

He asked the court to consider adjourning the case for finalisation so Whelan could undergo his rehabilitation while also raising more money for the injured parties.

Judge Ronan Munro agreed to adjourn this case for finalisation until June 20 to allow Whelan to engage in rehabilitation services and to allow him more time to collect a further monetary token of remorse.