According to Midlands 103, a three year imprisonment sentence has been handed to a man who seriously assaulted Laois footballer Daniel O’Reilly.
In April last year, Daniel, known as ‘Dicey’, was out socialising with friends before he was attacked and knocked unconscious while waiting for a taxi at 1am on Easter Sunday night.
Dicey suffered from multiple skull fractures and a bleed on his brain as he was left in a coma.
Thankfully, the Graiguecullen man recovered – and is also now back putting in serious performances for Laois.
Previously speaking to the Sunday World, O’Reilly revealed how when he woke up, his thoughts quickly turned to his then nine-month old son Zac.
He said: “When I woke up, the first thought was where was Zac, was he okay? It was a bit frightening because I didn’t know what was happening.
“This was like someone was after getting inside my skull and was just chiselling away at it. It was hard to even open my eyes.
“The nurse had to tell me what happened. The nurse asked me if I knew why I was here. I realised after a few minutes I was in hospital.
“It dawned on me then how serious it was. I could have been dead or left paralysed or in a coma for a long time. It kind of frightened me to think what he (Zac) would have done without me.”
Brendan Keating, from St Mary’s Park, and Tommy Lee Thompson, from Springfield Park in Carlow, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm earlier this year.
The co-accused is due for sentencing later today also in relation to the assault.
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