A GAELIC FOOTBALL player who fractured another footballer’s eye socket, leaving him with impaired vision after an “off-the-ball” incident in a club match, avoided jail but must pay €20,000 compensation.

Tom Molloy, 26, who was on the Westmeath county panel at the time, was playing midfield for his club, Shandonagh, against local rivals Maryland during an away challenge match on 24 February 2019.

He was handed a suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence after he pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to Maryland GAA’s wing forward Liam Reilly.

The self-employed electrician of Rathcolman, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, who had no prior criminal conviction, admitted using excessive force claiming there had been an earlier interaction during the match.

Reilly was in severe pain and treated by specialists at St James’s Hospital and the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin with regular visits for a year.

The court also heard that he had lost his passion for playing Gaelic football.

Garda Ronan Curran agreed with prosecution counsel John Hayden BL that the match involved “the usual tussle” and that there had been interactions between Molloy and Reilly.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Keenan Johnson described it as a nasty incident he ranked as being at the upper end for the offence, which could attract a maximum five-year prison term.

He set a headline sentence of four years, but due to the mitigating factors, he reduced it to two years and six months, which he suspended on condition Molloy did not reoffend in the next four years.

He also ordered him to pay €20,000 to Reilly within 12 months.

Judge Johnson said: “I want to make clear it is not a case of Mr Molloy buying his way out of trouble, but him suffering the pain of having to earn €20,000, which will be of some assistance to Mr Reilly in his recovery.

“Incarceration of the accused is not appropriate given his lack of previous convictions and the fact this offending was an aberration for him and bearing in mind it took place during a heightened GAA event where a competitive element overtook the sporting motivation.”

The judge added: “I think the competitive element of the GAA and its growth in the last number of years has reduced considerably the degree of sportsmanship that one should have and should be a cornerstone of sporting engagement.”

The court heard gardai received “conflicting reports” or “partisan” accounts from 16 people associated with the two clubs. The referee did not see the blow and there were fewer officials because it was a challenge match.

A Maryland witness told gardaí that “Molloy ran from behind and struck Mr Reilly in the eye”. Mr Reilly was in pain and had double vision in his right eye immediately afterwards.

The court heard he has permanent damage in his right eye and impaired vision.

“I did not have the opportunity to defend myself, and there is enough injury in GAA without off-the-ball injuries. I found the assault from a fellow player disrespectful, and that’s where I really lost interest in the sport,” he said.

Molloy gave a statement claiming self-defence and that beforehand he had received a punch.

Hayden submitted that there was no evidence of that and a witness claimed that Molloy “blind-sided Mr Reilly when he struck him”.

Reilly told the court in his victim impact statement that his socket was subsequently sunk and had permanent damage to his central vision in his right eye, which cannot be corrected with glasses or laser surgery.

It remained difficult to see text with that eye, impacting his ability to work as a process manager in a high-precision medical device manufacturing facility.

John Shortt SC, defending, said it happened in the context of Molloy’s club being relegated while Maryland had been promoted and “obviously there was tension and room for niggle here”.

He submitted that “this was a recipe for disaster”, and niggling incidents were ruining the game, which was called off with 10 minutes remaining.

He asked the judge to note that it was out of character for his client, who had furnished several references to the court. GAA disciplinary authorities imposed a 24-week suspension on Molloy.

In court, he apologized for the injury “which occurred in the heat of the game” and wished Reilly the best in his recovery.