FORMER GAA star Diarmuid Connolly has avoided a conviction and custodial sentence for punching two men in an “unprovoked” attack.
Last month the 36-year-old Dublin All-Ireland great pleaded guilty to assaulting the men on New Year’s Eve in 2022.
The case was adjourned to allow Connolly, of Collinswood in Beaumont, time to gather the €2,000 compensation he was ordered by the court to pay.
It is the second time in a decade that Connolly, who won seven All-Ireland football championships over his career, has avoided a conviction for assault.
In 2014 he was also spared a possible jail sentence and a criminal conviction for an unprovoked attack on a man in a pub.
He pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to a man who suffered a fractured eye socket at a pub in Phibsborough, Dublin, in August 2012.
However, the case was dismissed after he offered an unreserved apology, completed an anger-management course, and paid €5,000 compensation to the victim.
In the most recent incident Dublin Circuit Court was told that father-of-two Connolly had punched two men and dragged one of them along the ground in an “unprovoked” attack in 2022.
The court heard last month how he had attacked the men and dragged one of them along the ground during the attack at Shantalla Road in Santry.
Gardaí who attended the scene had told the court that the men had identified Connolly as the suspected offender.
One man said he was punched and dragged to the ground and his jacket was ripped, while another man who came to his aid was also punched in the face.
Cpnnolly’s lawyer told the court that his client “did not particularly remember how the incident happened. It was a regrettable incident, regrettable that he got involved in that situation.”
The solicitor said the second injured party was assaulted after he intervened and ran after Mr Connolly, who had not wanted the incident to continue any further.
Judge Michelle Finan described the episode as a “very serious incident” but she said she was taking into consideration Connolly’s guilty plea and that the two injured parties did not want to submit victim impact statements.
She also noted that Connolly informed the prosecution he would plead guilty, relieving the witnesses from having to give evidence.
The application of the Probation Act means Connolly will not have a criminal record.