Boxer fires legal team after getting two years

Counsel for Wall had pleaded for leniency and said that Wall had €1,100 in court for the victim as a token of his remorse.

Judge Patrick McCartan ordered the money be paid over to the victim before imposing a four-year sentence with the final two suspended on strict conditions.

The judge said it was worrying that Wall was a trained boxer and commented that he believed part of being a boxer was learning how to control one’s temper.

After being sentenced Wall pleaded with the judge that his mother has only six months left to live. Judge McCartan replied that he had taken this into account when imposing sentence.

As he left court Wall said the sentence was “bollox” and told his legal team that he was going to “fire them”.

The court heard Wall was in a friend’s house drinking for several hours and late in the evening he went into the kitchen, put on a bullet-proof vest and got a kitchen knife.

He returned to the living room and attacked Mr Dempsey, leaving him with cuts to his hand and to the back of his head.

The court heard there was confusion over why the attack occurred. The victim told gardaí it was completely unprovoked, while Wall claimed it was in retaliation for a previous incident. Defence counsel Shaun Smith BL said that Wall had been wearing the bullet-proof vest earlier because of threats against him.

Wall has 57 previous convictions including robbery, burglary, possession of knives and car theft. He was released from his most recent sentence in January.

Counsel for Wall said he had been drug- and alcohol-free since his release and was now working in a shop, although he admitted there was no documentation to back this up. Mr Smith said that Wall’s mother had terminal cancer and that she hadn’t long to live. He said his client was aware he may not be free to say goodbye to her.

He asked Judge McCartan to be as lenient as possible and to bear in mind that €1,100 was a large sum for someone in Wall’s position.

 

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