A man who bit the ear of a GAA player was told to pay him another € 5,000 or go to jail

A young man who bit off part of the ear of a rising GAA star has been told to get another € 5,000 or face two years in prison.

Brandon McClay pleaded guilty to attacking Philip McNern at Sky Nightclub in Donegal Town during New Years celebrations in 2017.

McNern had been acting as a peacemaker after a previous fight, but McClay mistakenly attacked him after he beat him himself.

Surgeons struggled to save the ear after it was recovered from the disco floor and put on ice, but failed.

McNern, who played GAA with the Donegal minor team, suffered life-changing injuries and said in a victim impact statement how his life had changed forever as a result of the attack.

He said he continued to have flashbacks and couldn’t sleep after seeing a doctor dump a piece of his ear into a container at Sligo University Hospital because it couldn’t be put back.

He told how sport was his life, especially GAA, but he had to wear a ‘scrum cap’ when he played and everyone was looking at him.

He struggled to wear PPE when Covid came in and the children pointed him out because of his disfigured ear.

“I kept thinking it was my fault and now I have to live with it for the rest of my life without the tip of my ear,” he said.

If I have children I will have to make up a story and tell them why I lost the upper part of my ear.

McClay, 23, initially presented the sum of 3,700 euros to his victim, money he had saved working in his father’s seafood business.

McClay’s lawyer, Mr. Des Dockery, told the court that a € 10,000 raise was now being offered that McClay, of The Mullans, Donegal Town, had received as a loan from his family.

In sentencing, Judge John Aylmer said McNern was a totally innocent victim who had suffered serious injuries.

However, it noted that the defendant had suffered from dizziness and had vomited after being beaten in a previous altercation.

He said he was sorry and that he came to court with no prior convictions and that he had not come to the attention of the Gardaí since.

Judge Aylmer said he placed the attack in the upper middle range for such crimes and that it deserved three years in prison, but would reduce it to two years due to mitigating factors.

He said what he intended to do was postpone the case for another 12 months on the condition that McClay pay his victim another 5,000 euros, a total of 15,000 euros.

He said that he will review the case again in 12 months and that if the balance of € 5,000 is paid, he will suspend the entire sentence.