Gaelic footballer on trial for allegedly punching opponent in face

A Wicklow GAA club player has gone on trial for allegedly punching an opponent in the face and damaging several of his teeth during a competitive league match five years ago.

Billy Cullen (39), a player with Baltinglass GAA club, pleaded not guilty at a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday to a charge of assault causing harm to Kevin Rogers, contrary to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.

Mr Cullen of Lathaleere, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow is accused of punching Mr Rogers during a Division 1 league match between Baltinglass and Blessington at the grounds of Blessington GAA club on June 9, 2019.

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The court heard that the defendant claims that the victim incurred his injuries when he accidentally came in contact with the head of one of his own players after a group of players gathered around the accused and Mr Rogers. The alleged incident occurred during the second half of the match when Blessington were ahead in the game which they ultimately won.

Mr Rogers described how he went to tackle Mr Cullen when his opponent had possession of the ball near the Blessington goal. The midfielder said he shouldered the accused who then feinted a punch at him. Mr Rogers admitted reacting to that by sticking out his leg which tripped the Baltinglass player.

The witness said that his opponent after getting up threw the ball in his face followed by a punch “straight into my mouth.” “I grabbed my mouth as I knew something wasn’t right,” said Mr Rogers. “I knew bad damage was done.” He recalled that his gum shield split at the front and he had blood running from his mouth straight away.

The witness said that after Mr Cullen had been given a red card by the referee, the accused, whom he knew from their clubs playing against each other over many years, looked at him laughing and said: “Go on, you f**king coward.” Mr Rogers said he tried pushing his teeth back into his gum before attending an emergency dental clinic in Dublin.

At one stage he thought that the punch had “knocked six teeth down my throat.” The court heard that the player ultimately lost only one tooth but also required two root canals, while another tooth subsequently started to go dark and others were “chipped and badly damaged.”

Mr Rogers said there were “ongoing things” with his teeth. CCTV footage shown at the trial captured some of the incident. It showed the referee had blown the whistle for a foul involving other players but the play continued during which the alleged assault took place.

Opening the case for the prosecution, counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL said the accused had no legal justification for assaulting his opponent. Mr Rogers said that he had insurance for injuries as someone who played a contact sport but what happened was “ten times levels above that.”

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Damian Sheridan BL, the witness agreed he was an experienced player who knew the rules of GAA football. Asked about his attempt to stop Mr Cullen in play, Mr Rogers said he had tried to use “a little hustle and bustle” with his shoulder.

He denied a suggestion by Mr Sheridan that he had his arm raised in an attempt to “clothesline” his opponent. Mr Rogers explained he had raised his arm after Mr Cullen had shouldered him in the chest. He also admitted tripping the accused which he accepted was foul play but said it happens “probably ten times a match.”

The witness also accepted that he stood over Mr Cullen after he fell to the ground but stressed: “There was no intention to do anything.” Asked at what point the accused was entitled to defend himself, Mr Rogers replied: “Nothing was going to happen.” Mr Rogers acknowledged that he also “nudged” the other player as he got up off the ground in order to indicate “cop on.”

He claimed what happened was “hustle and bustle” before adding: “It’s what you sign up for in the GAA.” Mr Rogers said there was always “a bit of hustle and bustle” between the two teams but it “never came near the extent that [Mr Cullen] went to.” “The first bit of aggression was the attempted punch,” he stressed.

The court heard the defendant told gardaí when interviewed about the incident that he had the ball when he received a “stiff-armed, closed fist blow” from Mr Rogers before swiping his opponent’s arm away. The accused claimed Mr Rogers then kicked him “around the shins” and later gave him a frontal shoulder charge to his chest before “coming at me again.”

He said he kept his head down and tried to protect himself as a “general melee” among players of both teams broke out for about ten seconds. In a pre-prepared statement provided to gardaí, Mr Cullen maintained that Mr Rogers obtained his injuries from an accidental blow from the back of the head of one of his own team’s players.

An injured Blessington player watching the match near the goal line, Wayne Callaghan, gave evidence of seeing the accused throwing the ball at Mr Rogers which was “followed with a punch” as his teammate was turning away. Mr Callaghan described the blow as “very hard” before seeing Mr Rogers grabbing his mouth and blood trickling from it. Under cross-examination, he acknowledged that around five or six players subsequently engaged in “jostling.”

In a written statement, a dental surgeon, Maria O’Brien, said three of the victim’s teeth were loose with one of them partially dislodged from its socket, while his palate bone had been pushed backwards. Garda Seamus Gray told the court that Mr Rogers teeth were “cracked and loose” when he interviewed him at the Blessington GAA grounds on the day of the match.

He told Mr Sheridan that he had contacted the chairman of Baltinglass GAA club to ask if any of their players would provide a statement but “nobody came forward.” The trial before Judge Terence O’Sullivan and a jury of seven men and five women is expected to conclude on Wednesday.

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