Bitten on the dancefloor: Man convicted of assaulting woman, by Kilkenny Court

A man who walked up to a woman on a dancefloor and bit her on the shoulder has been convicted of assault causing harm.
The assault occurred in a Kilkenny City bar when both the man and woman were socialising with separate groups of friends.

Brendan Thorpe, The Still, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, had denied the charge, saying in court he had ‘come on’ to the woman in the wrong way.

Sabrina Moloney gave evidence in Kilkenny District Court that on January 22 last she was in Brogan’s Bar. She was dancing with friends in the DJ area when she felt a sudden, sharp pain in her shoulder. She turned around and saw a man she didn’t know. She asked him why he had bitten her. He said he didn’t, pointed at someone else, then walked away.

Ms Moloney immediately told her friend Anna Boland who accompanied her to the lady’s bathroom and inspected her shoulder.
Ms Boland saw marks on Ms Moloney’s shoulder. She wasn’t sure if it was a bite mark or a ‘spike’ mark from a needle. Ms Boland took a picture of the mark and the ladies left the bar.
The picture was handed in to the court.
CCTV confirmed that Ms Moloney had been bitten.
Ms Moloney said there had been a white bite mark on the material at the shoulder of her dress, afterwards.
She said she didn’t know who Mr Thorpe was and had never met him before this.

In reply to solicitor Ed Hughes, defending Mr Thorpe, Ms Moloney said Anna had called the gardaí.
She said she knew she had been bitten, or spiked, because she felt pain in her shoulder. Initially she thought she was bitten but wasn’t sure because there was a lot going around, at the time, about people being spiked by needles.
Mr Hughes asked Ms Moloney why, in her statement to gardaí after the incident, she felt ‘dramatic.’ She said because there had been a ‘scene’ and she was upset.

After gardaí had watched the CCTV from inside the bar they told her it was a bite and not a spike.
Ms Moloney said she did not go to a doctor because the skin on her shoulder was not broken.
Mr Hughes put to Ms Moloney that what she felt was Mr Thorpe’s beard. She disagreed saying her shoulder was covered by her dress.

Anna Boland told the court she is a garda based in Tramore garda station. On January 22 last she was off duty and socialising with her friend, Ms Moloney.
On the dancefloor, Ms Moloney turned to her and said she thought she was after being bitten. They went straight away to the toilet where she unzipped her friend’s dress and saw a mark on her shoulder. She took a picture of the mark with her phone.
Ms Boland said she was afraid her friend had been ‘spiked.’ They left the bar and she rang Kilkenny Garda Station.

Garda Ashley Lowery said that at approximately 10pm on January 22 he received a call from the garda control centre to go to Brogan’s bar where a female had possibly been ‘spiked’.
He got there ‘fairly promptly’ and met Ms Moloney and Ms Boland outside the bar, with a member of the security staff.
Garda Lowery said he saw a white mark on the shoulder of Ms Moloney’s black dress, it could have been saliva. She showed him her shoulder and the garda saw a red mark.

He went inside to view CCTV. On it he observed a male come up behind Ms Moloney and lean forward towards her right shoulder. He had a glass in his hand which ruled out a needle being used.
Garda Lowery said it looked like Ms Moloney had been bitten. Her description of what happened matched what he saw on the CCTV.

Mr Thorpe was cautioned, arrested and taken to Kilkenny Garda Station.
Authorisation was given for a DNA sample to be taken from the prisoner, and his photo was taken.
Ms Moloney’s dress was sent to Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) for analysis. However, because Mr Thorpe made a partial admission during interview the dress FSI would not perform analysis on the dress.

Garda Lowery read Mr Thorpe’s statement into the court record. During interview, in response to Ms Moloney’s statement being read to him, said: “I’d say she’s a bit of an over-reactor now.”
He told gardaí he had arrived in Kilkenny at about 7.30pm and was out with friends. He didn’t have much to drink, he said, three pints and three double vodkas.
Mr Thorpe said he didn’t remember biting Ms Moloney and that he ‘must have been drunk’.
He viewed the CCTV and identified himself. He told gardaí it was him ‘just being a bit stupid’ and that he was ‘not some kind of predator’.

CCTV from inside the pub was shown in court.
Mr Hughes said it was not clear from the CCTV what had happened. Garda Lowery said it was consistent with what had been reported and matched Ms Moloney’s injuries.
The garda disagreed that the injury could have been caused by Mr Thorpe’s beard or the strap on Ms Moloney’s dress.

An application to strike out the charge by Mr Hughes was denied by Judge Geraldine Carthy.
Mr Hughes said his client accepted he got too close to Ms Moloney and ‘got in her space,’ but a lesser assault charge was not available.

Judge Carthy, in denying the application, said the CCTV clearly showed the accused going in to bite the injured party. Mr Thorpe had also made the statement: “I did do it, I don’t know why,” she pointed out.

Mr Thorpe took the stand and said he did not have a lot of recollection of events on the night. He agreed he had a fair amount to drink. He remembered being in the garda station the next morning.
Mr Hughes asked Mr Thorpe if, with the benefit of hindsight and looking at the CCTV footage, he could explain what happened on the night.
Mr Thorpe said he might have come on to Ms Moloney in the wrong way. “I wouldn’t do anything like that sober.”
He said he didn’t recall any of what he saw on the CCTV coverage.

When asked by Mr Hughes if he was trying to get Ms Moloney’s attention Mr Thorpe said ‘maybe’.
Inspector Paul Donohoe reminded Mr Thorpe that when asked by gardaí if he had done anything like this before he said yes. In court, Mr Thorpe said he got in trouble in Wexford. He didn’t bite anyone.
Judge Carthy said the CCTV that had been shown in court ‘quite clearly’ showed the defendant leaning into the injured party, and Ms Moloney grabbing her shoulder and turning around.
The judge convicted Mr Thorpe of assault causing harm.

In mitigation, Mr Hughes said his client said the reason why he came up behind Ms Moloney was because he thought she was attractive and he was trying to get her attention. It was not a good thing to do.
Mr Hughes said Mr Thorpe cooperated to a large extent with gardaí and the harm was at the lower end of the scale of seriousness.
Although his memory was not great, his client was apologetic, Mr Hughes said.

Inspector Donohoe told the court that Mr Thorpe had four previous convictions - three for assault causing harm, two of which were to females, and one public order offence.
Judge Carthy said that having heard Mr Thorpe’s previous convictions the court was concerned the defendant has a problem relationship with alcohol.

In relation to the CCTV, Judge Carthy said she was very concerned about the behaviour in question, not only towards the injured party but other females on the dance floor.
The judge said she was considering imposing a custodial sentence. She asked for a probation report to be prepared before sentencing and adjourned the case to February to allow this.
Judge Carthy said the lack of remorse Mr Thorpe had shown before the court was noted.