Jury finds former champion boxer from Tipperary guilty of Offaly assault

Cloughjordan man told Tullamore Circuit Court he was acting in self defence when his punch broke victim's jaw in Birr nightclub

Published 11th Jun 2026, 09:30 BST Updated 11th Jun 2026, 09:49 BST Jack Deane (centre) pictured outside Tullamore courthouse at a previous court appearance | Tribune Pictures Cloughjordan man told Tullamore Circuit Court he was acting in self defence when his punch broke victim's jaw in Birr nightclub Sign up to our Offaly Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Offaly Live within your account.

A FORMER champion boxer from north Tipperary has been found guilty of assaulting another young man in an Offaly nightclub.

The verdict came a year after Jack Deane (23), Knockanacree, Cloughjordan , Co Tipperary had been on trial for the same offence but the jury failed to reach a verdict on that occasion.

At a retrial at Tullamore Circuit Court on Wednesday, Mr Deane again denied assaulting Christopher Kelly, causing him harm, at Melba's night club, Emmet Square, Birr on August 28, 2023.

Mr Deane had similarly pleaded not guilty when the matter first came before a jury in 2025 and in both trials his defence was that he had acted in self defence.

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The jury of eight men and four women heard on Wednesday that it was accepted Mr Kelly, also now aged 23, had suffered a broken jaw and damaged nose and shoulder after being punched three times, but Mr Deane said he hit the other young man after being hit himself first.

Mr Kelly, a duty manager at the County Arms Hotel in Birr, told the court he was on a work night out with colleagues and his girlfriend Emily.

The hotel staff had vouchers for Kelly's on the Green pub in Birr and went there first before moving to Melba's night club.

After arriving there at about 11.45pm he went to the bathroom and saw Mr Deane at the urinals.

Mr Kelly said the other man said something to him and squared up to him and after saying something back the accused punched him several times to the face and “after that it was just a blur”.

Replying to Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting (instructed by Sandra Mahon, Offaly state solicitor), Mr Kelly said there were three to four punches.

“I remember being on the ground and that was it then,” he said.

He believed Mr Deane, who had four or five friends with him, then ran out of Melba's while he himself went to the dance floor before being brought outside by a bouncer.

After waiting outside for his girlfriend they went to the County Arms where he had a room for the night and in the morning he went to the regional hospital in Tullamore where an x-ray determined he had a fractured jaw.

Mr Kelly said he also had a damaged nose and a chipped tooth and had to go to St James's Hospital the following day.

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Asked if he had known Mr Deane beforehand, Mr Kelly said the accused had a cousin who went to the same school as him and recalled that “during Covid” a group of school students met up at the Highfield soccer pitch in Birr for a sparring session.

Mr Kelly said a few of his friends and a few of Mr Deane's friends from Shinrone fought with boxing gloves on, organised into three rounds of two minutes each.

He fought Mr Deane but had to stop after the second round because he was being out-boxed.

Concluding his direct evidence, Mr Kelly said he knew of no reason why Mr Deane would punch him in Melba's.

Cross-examined by David Nugent , BL (instructed by Brian Duffy , solicitor), Mr Kelly said after he left the bathroom in Melba's and gone back to the dance floor he was told by a bouncer Jamie Kelly that he'd been in a bit of a scuffle or fight and then left the nightclub.

He said he did not report the fight to the gardai or call an ambulance that night because he “never even realised how bad it was” but when he woke up the next morning his face was swollen.

When Mr Nugent put it to him that a medical report from Tullamore Hospital recorded Mr Kelly saying he'd been hit by six assailants, Mr Kelly said he did not remember saying that and perhaps the hospital staff got mixed up if he had said there was a group of lads there.

Asked about the sparring session when they were younger Mr Kelly said Mr Deane had stopped boxing him when asked to do so and they were both “grand” afterwards.

The trial, with Judge Keenan Johnson presiding, also heard garda evidence that Mr Kelly arrived at Birr station on August 28, 2023 with a swollen face and black eye and alleged he'd been assaulted by Jack Deane, who he said was possibly from Borrisokane or Cloughjordan.

Sergeant Pat O'Connell told the court it took a number of months to locate Mr Deane but he was arrested on January 28, 2024 and when questioned during detention he said he did not know anything about an assault and did not know why Christopher Kelly had named him as the person who hit him.

Mr Deane did identify himself on CCTV footage in the nightclub and also identified a brother of his and other friends.

Asked by gardai if he was an accomplished boxer, he said: “I am indeed”. He had won county and Munster medals in the 80kg category, was ambidextrous and southpaw was his preferred style.

He said he had nothing to say about the allegation that he had assaulted Christopher Kelly.

The court further heard that on November 18, 2024 Mr Deane was arrested and charged with the assault and appeared in court on December 4.

On December 18 he came to the garda station in Birr with a pre-prepared statement and withdrew his original statement.

In this second statement he said he denied the incident because he feared the consequences for friends and family and had also been told “by locals in Birr that Christopher Kelly was a violent and dangerous individual”.

He said himself and his friends all went into the bathroom in Melba's at the same time and “rowdy individuals” came in and Christopher Kelly shouted insults at him and asked him what had happened “last Christmas”.

Mr Deane said he told Mr Kelly he did not want any conflict but the other young man started to hit him and he had no option but to defend himself.

He threw three punches and after the third one Mr Kelly stepped back. Mr Deane and his friends left and he told a security man he had been attacked.

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The jury was shown CCTV footage from Melba's which captured Mr Kelly and Mr Deane near the dance floor and moving towards a door which led to the bathroom but there was no footage from the bathroom itself.

In one clip Mr Deane could be seen going down a stairs towards the exit and placing his hand to his face.

Sergeant O'Connell said that the security staff member, Mr Kelly, did not make a statement and he further told the jury Christopher Kelly was not a violent and dangerous individual as Mr Deane had said and he had no previous convictions.

In his evidence Mr Deane described how he had arrived at Melba's with friends and after going straight to the dance floor they then went to the bathroom.

Christopher Kelly came in and while he was a bit confused about what he said he remembers the other man saying “What did you say to me last Christmas?”

He said there was tension and he tried to de-escalate the situation and told Mr Kelly he did not want to fight him.

He was a bit anxious something might happen. “After a few words were exchanged all of a sudden Christopher started throwing multiple punches.”

To stop Mr Kelly from striking him he threw three punches and afterwards his intention was to get out of the nightclub.

He left straight away in case there might be more conflict and he remembered holding his face and being a bit sore as he went down the stairs in Melba's.

Mr Deane also said he had denied the incident in his first statement because he was concerned about costs and didn't know anything about legal aid.

He added that he had been foolish and got other people's opinions that the matter wouldn't be going to the DPP.

One of the reasons he changed his mind was because his grandfather, an ex-garda, told him he would have to take an oath.

Mr Deane said he was a strong believer in his faith and he knew he would have to swear on the bible but believed in justice and believed the truth would prevail.

He repeated that he had been defending himself and struck Mr Kelly because he wanted to stop him in his tracks and had tried to talk to him without success.

Referring to his boxing, Mr Deane said he had always been taught not to raise his hands unless it was in self defence.

Cross-examined by Mr Geraghty, the accused accepted that it was “nonsense” to say Mr Kelly was violent and dangerous but despite being challenged several times to name the people in Birr who had told him he was, he did not do so.

When it was put to him that he could have pushed Mr Kelly away instead of punching him, Mr Deane said he had not considered doing that.

While he accepted his first statement was “lies” and said he had been advised to make that denial, he rejected Mr Geraghty's assertion that what he had subsequently told gardai about the fight was a concoction.

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In his closing argument to the jury Mr Geraghty said Mr Deane had said he was a man of faith but made up a tissue of lies.

By describing Mr Kelly as violent and dangerous he was trying to “carpet bomb his credibility and do him down”.

Mr Geraghty also said it did not make any sense for Mr Deane to say that himself and four friends had all gone to the bathroom in Melba's at the same time.

Addressing the jury, Mr Nugent said Mr Deane had not wanted trouble on the night and after the incident in the bathroom he told security he'd been attacked and left the nightclub while Mr Kelly went back to the dance floor.

While he had lied to gardai in the first statement he rectified that in the second one. Mr Nugent said Mr Kelly had confronted Mr Deane first and his client had acted in self defence.

In his charge to the jurors before they went out to deliberate Judge Johnson said they had to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defence of self defence did not apply if they were to find Mr Deane guilty.

The judge said they had to concentrate on the issue of self defence and described the case as one where there was a complete conflict of evidence.

If they were unable to resolve that conflict they had to acquit the accused.

The jury deliberated for one hour and 10 minutes and returned to say they all agreed on a guilty verdict.

Mr Nugent applied for Mr Deane to remain on bail in advance of sentencing and Mr Geraghty consented to that.

Mr Nugent said Mr Deane was a working man and asked for a probation report to be prepared. The accused had no previous convictions.

Judge Johnson remanded Mr Deane on continuing bail for sentencing on November 17 next and ordered the preparation of a probation report and a victim impact statement.

The judge also indicated that compensation should be paid by the accused man. “I do consider compensation a major issue in a case of this nature,” he said.