Billy Cullen (39), a player with Baltinglass GAA club, pleaded not guilty at a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday to a charge of assault causing harm to Kevin Rogers
A Wicklow GAA club player has gone on trial for allegedly punching an opponent in the face and damaging several of his teeth during a competitive league match five years ago.
The court heard that the defendant claims that the victim incurred his injuries when he accidentally came in contact with the head of one of his own players after a group of players gathered around the accused and Mr Rogers. The alleged incident occurred during the second half of the match when Blessington were ahead in the game which they ultimately won.
The witness said that after Mr Cullen had been given a red card by the referee, the accused, whom he knew from their clubs playing against each other over many years, looked at him laughing and said: “Go on, you f**king coward.” Mr Rogers said he tried pushing his teeth back into his gum before attending an emergency dental clinic in Dublin.
Opening the case for the prosecution, counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL said the accused had no legal justification for assaulting his opponent. Mr Rogers said that he had insurance for injuries as someone who played a contact sport but what happened was “ten times levels above that.” The witness also accepted that he stood over Mr Cullen after he fell to the ground but stressed: “There was no intention to do anything.” Asked at what point the accused was entitled to defend himself, Mr Rogers replied: “Nothing was going to happen.” Mr Rogers acknowledged that he also “nudged” the other player as he got up off the ground in order to indicate “cop on.”
He said he kept his head down and tried to protect himself as a “general melee” among players of both teams broke out for about ten seconds. In a pre-prepared statement provided to gardaí, Mr Cullen maintained that Mr Rogers obtained his injuries from an accidental blow from the back of the head of one of his own team’s players.
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