Two men jailed for vicious assault on small family wedding in Dunmore East that left bride bruised
The men appeared before Waterford Circuit Court at Waterford Courthouse.
Two men will serve several years in prison for their unwarranted attack on multiple people at a residential house in Dunmore East.
Paul Kelly (28), of Shanakiel, Coxtown, Dunmore East, and Nathan Connolly (23), of Knockboy Village, Ballygunner, were sentenced to three years and two years three months respectively for carrying out a series of assaults at a family wedding.
The family, unrelated to both men, were celebrating the wedding of their daughter, who had been living abroad and came back to be married close to family.
Around 30 people, including children, were in the garden when Kelly and Connolly tried to enter the garden, uninvited.
Members of the family knew Kelly, as he lived a few doors away.
Kelly began acting aggressively when told he could not enter the property and began screaming.
He began punching and attacking people, striking up to four people.
Connolly initially tried to restrain Kelly, but eventually joined in with the attacks.
Two of the men attacked were taken to University Hospital Waterford (UHW) for treatment of their injuries. One man was left with a permanent scar on his head.
Connolly struck the bride in the face, causing her to fall to the ground, and suffer injuries to her jaw and sinus.
Video footage taken on the night revealed people screaming, and both men attacking people and thrashing around.
At one point, Kelly removed his shirt and circled people, screaming threats.
Witnesses recalled hearing Connolly threaten: "Don't make me pull it out."
According to a Garda witness, in the interview room Kelly expressed remorse for ruining a happy occasion, and could not watch the footage.
During Connolly's interview, Garda said: "He tried to act as peacekeeper and didn't accept the accusation."
In the aftermath of the attack, victims of the attack spoke about the longlasting effects of the incident, and the fear some of them have living in close proximity to Kelly. The family spoke about the sadness of celebrating their daughter's wedding anniversary because of the trauma from that night.
Defence counsel for Kelly said that his client was remorseful of his actions, and he had been heavily intoxicated on the night.
Defence counsel for Connolly, Paul W Hutchinson, explained that his client had a difficult childhood, and had been "groomed" into drug dealing by his abusive father.
At the time of the attack, Connolly was on bail for sexually assault a young girl. In November 2023, he was sentenced to serve three years by Judge Eugene O'Kelly at Waterford Circuit Court, after making a guilty plea.
Mr Hutchinson referenced his earlier conviction for sexual assault by stating that Connolly was in his late teens at the time of the offence.
To this, Judge O'Kelly said: "Don't compare what he surreptitiously did. Don't compare the cases, that was a very difficult case."
Both sentences had one year suspended, in Connolly's case due to the totality principle. He will serve his sentence consecutively to his current term.
