‘brutal’ | 

Wexford duo who left man ‘struggling for his life’ after house party attack are jailed

Victim Ignatius Holmes stated that he had received a brutal battering and that he had been left half dead by his assailants

New Ross Standard

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Jail terms were handed down in the Circuit Court to a couple of men who left the host of a house party badly beaten and struggling for his life.

Both Michael Godkin (55) and John Katus (49) were homeless and staying at the Ozanam House hostel in Wexford at the time of the incident in June of 2019.

However, rather than going to the hostel, they stayed out drinking overnight at Skeffington Street, the home of Ignatius Holmes.

The house party was at the centre of a trial earlier this year in which Katus was found guilty by a jury of assault causing harm to the unfortunate Holmes, who was aged 63 at the time.

Godkin opted not to go trial, deciding instead to plead guilty to assaulting the householder by dropping a television on his head, inflicting facial injuries.

Holmes also sustained a broken femur which required emergency surgery after he was conveyed to the regional hospital in Waterford.

The sentencing hearing conducted by Judge Cormac Quinn was given a victim impact statement, read into the record by Detective Garda Colm Dunne,.

In the statement, Holmes stated that he had received a brutal battering and that he had been left half dead by his assailants.

He was a patient for six weeks in Waterford before being discharged, later spending time in Wexford General and the community hospital in Gorey.

He wanted to return to Skeffington Street to live in the area where he grew up but the stairs in the house presented difficulties in the wake of the assault.

He was obliged to move and now felt more secure in his new residence.

The detective confirmed that Godkin had his victim’s blood on his clothes when he stopped a passing member of the public on the morning of June 7 and asked him to call for help.

When the emergency services arrived at Number 22, the door was opened by Katus, who was clearly intoxicated.

Godkin, address given as Doyle’s Barn, The Quay, New Ross, was represented in court by barrister Edward O’Mahony.

He traced his client’s difficulties back to the breakdown of his marriage in 2008, up to which time he led a normal, law-abiding life.

He had mental health and substance abuse difficulties and the prospect of coming to court prompted a heroin relapse in the days before the hearing.

His sister attended court to offer Godkin some family support but the judge learned that he had very little contact with his ex-wife and that one son had cut off all ties.

He was on anti-depressant medication and a course of methadone, revealed Mr O’Mahony, who felt the defendant’s gambling was now mostly under control.

He brought €300 to court to offer as token compensation to the injured party.

Barrister Jordan Fletcher addressed the court on behalf of co-accused Katus of Waterside Apartments, New Ross.

The defendant remembered kicking and boxing Ignatius Holmes, counsel told the judge, and he accepted the verdict of the jury.

The assault occurred during a period of heavy alcohol addiction, Mr Fletcher reckoned.

Since the shameful events in Skeffington Street, Katus had drastically reduced the amount of drink consumed and he was a model tenant in the apartment complex where he now lived.

‘This was an unprovoked attack on a vulnerable, defenceless man in his own home,’ concluded the judge, noting how a TV had been used as a weapon.

Katus was sentenced to five years imprisonment, the final six months suspended.

Godkin was sentenced to three and a half years, the closing 12 months suspended.