ASSAULT victim Ciaran Ryan has blasted the sentences handed down to two brothers of Limerick hurling star Kyle Hayes for battering him with a hurley and a wrench.
Demented Daragh Hayes, 37, and Cian Hayes, 33, lured their friend and former Limerick minor football star Ciaran to Daragh’s house and viciously set upon him.
The two brothers falsely believed Mr Ryan had become romantically involved with Daragh’s ex-partner.
Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard there was no evidence to support this false assertion and that it had no basis in reality.
Twisted Cian was this week sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, with the final six months suspended, while Daragh was caged for three years, with the final six months suspended.
The siblings pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and producing the hurley and wrench during the assault.
Speaking for the first time since his attackers were jailed on Thursday, victim Ciaran hit out at the length of the sentences.
He fumed: “I don’t think it is justice compared to what other people get in the courts.
“Last Christmas, I saw a woman get two years jail for shoplifting, and Cian Hayes only got two years for what he did to me.
“He punctured my lung, battered my arm, my bruises – he did damage to my body.
“Cian was vicious, he (attacked) all my left side, that’s where I have the steel plate in my hand, where all my ribcage was broken, that’s where I nearly died.
“Daragh was beating me on the opposite side with a hurley, it was brutal.”
‘BETRAYED’
Mr Ryan said he felt particularly “betrayed” by Cian, as they had been childhood friends and he was set to be his best man at his wedding prior to the attack.
The victim was lured to the house on September 29, 2021, by the brothers on the pretence of making arrangements for Cian’s impending nuptials.
But within seconds of entering the house, Ciaran found himself being interrogated by father-of-one Cian and father-of-three Daragh.
They quizzed him about what was an entirely innocent text message between Daragh’s ex, Claire McNamara, and Mr Ryan.
The two brothers beat Mr Ryan with an adult-sized hurley and a foot-long steel spanner, breaking several of his bones and puncturing a lungs.
VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT
In his victim impact statement, Mr Ryan said the unprovoked attack “changed my life forever” and added: “They beat me like they wanted me dead.”
Ciaran expressed his shock at the sentences handed down to the two thugs.
He said: “I just don’t understand it – so Cian Hayes gets out of prison in two years, I can’t comprehend how that is justice, he punctured my lung with the steel wrench.
“I was protecting my face with my hands as he was beating me, that’s why he broke my hand in several places and that’s why I have a steel plate fitted there.
“As I would put my hand up to my face he (Cian) would then strike at my rib cage and my lungs, puncturing my lung.”
INJURY IMAGES
Mr Ryan released pictures from his eight days in hospital after suffering a punctured lung, broken leg, broken arm, broken fingers, shattered ribs and severe bruising all over his body.
As he underwent emergency surgery, the victim revealed that a surgeon had told his mother that “if his recovery doesn’t go well after the operation there’s a 50-50 chance that your son will die”.
Despite having been charged with the vicious assault, Cian remained captain of the Kildimo-Pallaskenry Junior B hurling team and was celebrated locally after they won the hurling county final last November.
Daragh coached with the club after his playing career ended due to injury.
Ciaran raged: “How could you make that animal captain?”
‘REALLY HURT’
He also told how he was “really hurt” when some people in his parish continued to speak up for Cian and Daragh “knowing well what the two brothers did to me”.
Ciaran said: “It’s just crazy how people can back them up just because they are good sports people, it’s just weird, it’s just very very weird.”
In court, Kildimo-Pallaskenry GAA Club, as well as Cian and Daragh Hayes’s retired secondary school principal, John Egan, provided testimonials on their behalf.
“I don’t think it is justice compared to what other people get in the courts.”
Ciaran Ryan
Cian Hayes’ employer Regeneron, where he works as a senior project engineer, also provided a work certificate, with the court hearing he had a good work ethic.
Mr Ryan said he “appreciated” a visit from a representative from Kildimo-Pallaskenry GAA Club following the sentencing hearing, who provided him with a supportive letter from the club.
The letter commended Mr Ryan’s “leadership on the field during his playing career gained him the respect of the players, management team and club officials”.
Over three years on from the attack, Ciaran says he remains deeply traumatised and suffers from “paranoia” and insomnia.
