unprovoked attack | 

Dublin man inflicted ear injury on taxi driver in attack at garage

Today at 12:09

A father of three attacked a taxi driver at a petrol station, leaving him with a cut to his ear that needed seven stitches.

Keith Clarke (33) threatened he was going to break the cabbie’s jaw before getting into a fight with him and inflicting the injury, a court heard.

Clarke admitted assaulting the man but denied it was unprovoked and claimed the victim had first made an aggressive remark and he “overreacted”.

Judge Treasa Kelly told Clarke to pay €2,000 in compensation and adjourned the case at Dublin District Court.

Clarke, from Thormanby Court, Howth, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm.

Garda Sergeant Niall Murphy said the victim went to the hatch at Circle K, Ballymun Cross, on February 13 last year, to pay for fuel.

Clarke was nearby, threatened to break his jaw and approached him “for some reason not known to the injured party”.

They struggled and the victim was struck to the ear, suffering a deep cut.

A probation report stated Clarke was at a low risk of reoffending. He expressed remorse and acknowledged his actions were unacceptable, defence solicitor Fergal Boyle said. He accepted it was a “nasty incident”.

Judge Kelly said it seemed to have been a random and “unprovoked attack” without a background history. It was a serious assault on a man going about his work, she said.

Mr Boyle said the accused disputed that the assault was unprovoked, and that this was not borne out by CCTV evidence.

Clarke maintained there were first “words from the injured party” and while he accepted he overreacted, he insisted the assault did not happen in isolation.

Sgt Murphy said the evidence was not that Clarke’s actions were “any reaction to any prior interaction”.

The victim was approaching the till when he was accosted, he said.

Judge Kelly adjourned the case to a date in January and said she would finalise it then.