A GAA mentor has been jailed for six months for punching a referee following a Gaelic football match in Wexford last September.
Glen McManus of St Joseph's GAA club punched referee Michael Lanigan in the immediate aftermath of a junior championship game against Our Lady's Island on September 25, 2022.
McManus assaulted Lanigan seconds after he had blown the full-time whistle in Our Lady's Island's 1-11 to 1-10 win in the Enniscorthy Farm Systems Junior Football Championship.
McManus punched Lanigan in the back of the head, causing the referee to fall to the ground, landing on his back.
An ambulance was called to the St. Joseph's home pitch in Whiterock, but Lanigan made his own way to hospital, where he presented with neck injuries. He was out of work for a number of works as a result of the injuries sustained in the assault.
McManus also attacked a second person, Edward Harding, following the full-time whistle last September.
McManus was later arrested and charged with assault causing harm. He was brought before the Wexford District Court earlier in the year, but Judge Gráinne Malone did not accept jurisdiction of the case, arguing that it was too serious to be heard by the District Court.
Judge Malone sent the case to the Circuit Court, which has the power to hand down a sentence of up to five years in prison for assault causing harm.
McManus appeared before the Wexford Circuit Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to assaulting Lanigan. The court also took McManus's assault of Edward Harding into account.
Judge James McCourt sentenced McManus to 18 months in prison with the final 12 months suspended, marking the first time that a person has been jailed for assaulting a GAA referee at a match.
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