Drunken Royal Irish Regiment soldier attacked student

An off-duty Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) soldier who, along with a colleague, attacked a student in a drunken brawl, leaving him with a brain haemorrhage, was jailed for a year last Friday 19 March at a court in Portrush in County Antrim.

Surgenor pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.

Mark Surgenor (22), whose address was given as c/o 4 RIR, was also ordered to serve a year's probation on his release.

The court was told the incident occurred on 19 September 2002 at North Street, Ballycastle, after Surgenor returned to the town from Kelly's nightclub in Portrush. During the assault, the British soldier wrapped a belt around his wrist and chased after his victim, whom he punched and knocked to the ground.

Prosecuting lawyer Neil Connor said that after being struck on the head by the belt, the injured student was kicked as he lay on the ground. The ferocity of the attack led the student to suffer a brain haemorrhage and forced him to lose a year's study at university.

Another off-duty soldier, 29-year-old Matthew Robert Henry Waterson, whose address was also given as c/o RIR, pleaded guilty to common assault and was fined £1,000.

Surgenor's defence lawyer, Charles Adair, said the consequences of the court proceedings would be that Surgenor's army career is probably over.

Sentencing the men, Judge David Smyth said "it is remarkable the injured party made a remarkable recovery because in such cases the injuries can be fatal".