A MAN WHO attacked a cardiologist with a champagne bottle in the victim’s home after they met in a pub in Dublin that night has been jailed for nine years and six months.

Liam Whelan (43) of no fixed abode, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing serious harm and robbery of the victim in Dublin city on 25 August 2023.

Whelan was convicted unanimously by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury on both counts following a trial in November.

The court heard that the victim later required surgery to remove a large blood clot that was putting pressure on his brain and to reconstruct his skull due to a fracture.

He has suffered permanent hearing loss in one ear and was unable to work for six months due to a risk of epilepsy and seizures.

Today, Judge Patricia Ryan handed Whelan a sentence of ten years and six months, with the final 12 months suspended for three years, on strict conditions.

Garda Ryan Delaney told Conor McKenna BL prosecuting the victim lived and practiced as a cardiologist outside of Dublin but had come to Dublin that night to a home he owned in the city.

He went for dinner with a friend before he went for drinks in The George Bar on George’s Street in the city centre. The victim met Whelan while he was outside in the smoking area and the men decided to go back to the victim’s home nearby.

Delaney agreed with McKenna that the victim has very little recollection of what happened afterwards but recalled going to his bedroom with Whelan before he heard a crunching noise. He came to later on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

He estimated that he had been there for some time as his face was stuck to the ground.

The doctor continued to go in and out of consciousness.

He recalled seeing Whelan in the room, naked trying on his clothes and asked him to call an ambulance. He remembered Whelan laughing at him and saying to the victim that he had not made up his mind yet if he was going to “clip” him.

Whelan later left the house with the victim’s money, wallet, credit cards, phone and clothing.

The victim got out of the house and bought some paracetamol before he returned home to sleep.

It had been his intention to seek help in St James’s Hospital but when he arrived there, he discovered there were 11 ambulances lined up, so he decided to drive to his home in the south of the country.

The doctor was treated for the following day in hospital.

He underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his skull and to reconfigure the fragmented bones in his skull. He spent five days in hospital and was not able to return to work as a cardiologist or drive for six months due to the potential risks of seizures.

McKenna said there were two medical reports before the court.

The first outlined that the victim suffered severe bruising to his head and face and had multiple cuts to his face and scalp. He suffered a significant skull fracture and a facial fracture.

The blood clot which was removed was considered “large and life threatening”.

A second medical report indicated that the victim would have a permanent hearing loss in one ear and his balance was also impacted.

McKenna reminded the court that the jury were shown photographs of the man’s injuries and the scene of the attack.

They also viewed various pieces of CCTV footage which showed the men’s first meeting, them walking back to the victim’s home hand in hand and them arriving at the victim’s home.

Whelan was identified on CCTV footage and was ultimately arrested on 4 January this year. During the subsequent garda interview he claimed that he had been sexually assaulted by the victim and as a result he struck him with a bottle.

He maintained this defence throughout his trial. He also claimed that the victim “came at me with a knife”.

Delaney said Whelan had 63 previous convictions including breach of barring order, road traffic offences, possession of drugs for sale or supply, possession of knives and handling stolen property.

A victim impact statement read into the record by McKenna said the victim has made “a good physical recovery – all things considered”.

He had an estimated loss of earnings of €106,760 due to the fact that he could not practice in cardiology for six months.

He said he lost seven pints of blood during the attack and the walls in his bedroom needed to be repainted due to blood splatter. He has scars on his face and scalp.

The doctor said he previously had no history of mental illness but has since suffered severely.

He said through counselling he has begun to deal with his social anxiety and is very dependent on friends and family. He suffers from “severe and crippling depression” which he finds both socially and professionally embarrassing.

“I am a paper-thin version of the person I was,” the statement continued. “I will never understand how someone I was having a lovely time with refused to call an ambulance, laughed at me and allowed me to fall back into a pool of my own blood.”

“It is difficult to accept the reality of life now,” he concluded.

Delaney agreed with Maurice Coffey SC, defending, that at the time of the offence Whelan was a homeless drug addict. He accepted that he has no previous convictions for violent assaults or robbery.

McKenna said the Director of Public Prosecution’s view is that the offence fell into the upper range and justified a sentence of between 10 and 15 years given the severity of the injuries and the impacts it had on his life, the fact that it was an unprovoked attack that occurred in the victim’s home and that Whelan had used a bottle as a weapon.

The maximum penalty available to the court for both offences is life imprisonment.

Coffey told Judge Ryan that while Whelan still maintains that he was acting under self-defence he accepts that he carried out those actions and caused the harm.

“He deeply regrets the level of harm done to the victim,” Coffey said adding that Whelan is remorseful for the injuries caused.

Coffey asked the court to accept that his client had a difficult life and handed in a letter from his sister which portrayed the difficult family background they had.

“He had tragedies within the family and the deaths of close friends and family throughout his early life impacted his life in a severe way,” counsel continued.

Coffey asked the court to take in account Whelan’s vulnerability at the time of the offence but acknowledged that it was a very severe assault that had long lasting and permanent injuries on the victim.