A judge has told All-Star Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes he will not be jailed if he is deemed suitable for 180 hours of voluntary community service.
The unpaid community service would be in lieu of a three-month jail sentence for the five-time All-Ireland winner’s conviction for violent disorder in a nightclub six years ago.
Hayes (26) of Ballyahsea, Kildimo, Co Limerick, had been bound by the terms of a two-year suspended sentence “to be of good behaviour and not reoffend” within two years from last March, after a jury convicted him on two charges of engaging in violent disorder at the Icon nightclub, Limerick, on October 28th, 2019.
However, the judge said the “decorated hurler” had “breached” these terms when he engaged in dangerous driving at Mallow, Co Cork, driving “well in excess of the applicable [speed] limit” four months after the suspended sentences were imposed.
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Hayes was detected by gardaí driving an Audi A6 dangerously, at 155kph in a 100kph speed zone, while overtaking nine cars on the N20 Cork to Limerick dual carriageway on July 14th last.
Today at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, the judge said he had to decide under a “Section 99” re-entry order, if he would revoke all, part of, or none of Hayes’s two-year suspended sentence.
Hayes’s defence barrister, Liam Carroll, told the court the hurler’s maternal grandmother died last Tuesday and that her reposing and funeral mass were being held on Friday evening and on Saturday morning.
Mr Carroll said his client “did not” want to bring his grandmother’s death to the court’s attention, “but I believe it is a matter that should be considered by the court”.
Mr Carroll said: “Mr Hayes is very clear, he is ready to face the music today, he is ready to accept his fate.”
The judge told Hayes he was “very sorry” about his grandmother’s death.
Giving a summary of the violent disorder at the Icon nightclub, the judge said Hayes was one of two men who “aggressively approached” Cillian McCarthy inside the nightclub and was one of at least four others who “attacked” Mr McCarthy on the club’s dance floor.
The judge said two gardaí gave evidence at Hayes’s trial that they saw the hurler kicking an unidentified man, who was lying on the street outside the nightclub, but this man was not Cillian McCarthy. Hayes was acquitted of assaulting Mr McCarthy, and the hurler was never charged with assaulting any other person on the night.
The judge said an 18-month jail term and a concurrent two-year sentence imposed on Hayes, for the violence at the nightclub were fully suspended “on condition that he keep the peace for two years, and that he pay damages to Mr McCarthy of €10,000, the latter of which has been completed”.
The judge said Kyle Hayes broke these terms by his conviction for dangerous driving.
The judge said Hayes subsequently lost an appeal against the road traffic conviction, was fined €250 and given a two-year road ban.
The judge said evidence given to the court last Wednesday by Hayes’s father, Liam, that he underwent a quadruple bypass surgery in 2022, and he depends on Kyle to perform heavy duty work on their family farm “did not assist” nor “persuade” the court in its final decision.
Kyle Hayes’ brothers, Cian and Daragh Hayes, are both serving jail sentences for assault causing harm to a neighbour at Daragh Hayes’s home so are not available to assist their father on the family farm.
Judge Hayes said it was “inescapable” that Hayes “is a very talented hurler” but he had “in no way sought to rely on that in court”.
The judge said the Limerick hurler was neither entitled to “any preferential treatment” because of his “sporting achievements”, nor was he entitled to different treatment than someone “without his public profile”.
Hayes’s dangerous driving conviction, while “serious” was “less serious” than his previous two convictions for violent disorder, and there were no aggravating factors involved, such as “intoxication”, “poor road conditions”, or a driving “disqualification”, the judge continued.
The judge described as “appalling” Hayes’s behaviour inside and outside the nightclub seven years ago but he also noted that the Limerick hurler had not come before the courts for similar violent offences in those seven years.
The judge said revoking part of the suspended sentence would not be “unjust” and he felt it was “appropriate to activate three months” of Hayes’s suspended two-year sentence.
However, he added: “It is often the case with short sentences that it is more constructive to require a defendant to engage in a significant amount of voluntary work in the community rather than the imposition of a short sentence of imprisonment”.
The judge suggested Kyle Hayes engage with the probation services to be assessed for suitability for performing 180 hours of “voluntary unpaid work in the community”.
After consulting with Hayes, his barristertold the judge: “I can confirm that Mr Hayes is agreeable to accept a community service order.”
Adjourning the Section 99 re-entry to April 28th for mention, the judge concluded: “If he’s not suitable, then the penalty I have suggested will be imposed.”
