Two men jailed for 'unprovoked attack' on drunken friend in Derry city centre

A ‘unprovoked attack’ on their drunken friend resulted in two men being jailed at Derry Crown Court. 

Kieran Kelly, 27, who is from Derry but whose address was given as Maghaberry Prison, was sentenced to twenty months in jail for the attack which took place on September 5 last year. 

Dylan Quaile, 31, who is originally from Co. Fermanagh and whose address was also given as Maghaberry Prison, was jailed for eighteen months.

The court heard minutes before they attacked their victim in Waterloo Place Kelly and Quaile were recorded on CCTV footage sparring with each other. 

They then saw their victim, aged in his thirties, walking into Waterloo Place and subjected him to a sustained assault.

Kelly, who had thirty-five previous convictions, five of them for assaults and Quaile, who had sixty-four previous convictions, nine of them for assaults, have both been assessed by the Probation Service as being high risk of reoffending. 

A prosecution barrister told Judge Roseanne McCormick K.C. that the defendants had subjected their victim to "gratuitous degradation" during the attack which was recorded on city centre CCTV cameras.

The court heard the victim sustained injuries to his face and head "and there was also a hole pierced through the left side of his mouth".

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The prosecution barrister said Quaile "also feigned a hug with the victim before landing a significant blow to his face area while Kelly assaulted the victim whilst the victim is prone on the ground".

Judge McCormick said among the aggravating features of the case was that both defendants were either on probation or subject to suspended sentences or both for previous offences.

"Both were highly intoxicated and the offending took place in a public area in front of members of the public. The victim was vulnerable due to his level of intoxication but nothing in his conduct should have drawn this assault. It was totally unprovoked", she said.