On April 5, 2012, Irish rugby player Neilus Keogh was playing poker with eight people in the Sporting Emporium Casino - where he was a regular. After losing an unknown sum of money in a hand, Keogh stood up and punched another player, Michael Frisby, in the face before throwing a chair at him.
The Irish Times reported, the victim suffered three broken bones in the face and damaged nerves around his mouth, which required an operation of two metal plates (held together by eight steel screws) being inserted in his face.
On his last court appearance in February 2014, Judge Patrick McCartan ordered Neilus Keogh to undergo anger management counselling and to pay his victim €10,000 in compensation. Keogh signed a contract with Nottingham Rugby Club in June 2013 that would give him £1,700 monthly, but there was a special clause in his contract that it would terminate if he was convicted.
Although he has not received a conviction, his contract was not renewed last year because of the bad publicity his crime gave the club. Defence counsel, Ronan Kennedy BL, said Keogh has dealt with his bad temperament and drinks much less since the incident in 2012. "He paid very highly for his own foolishnes," Kennedy added.
Keogh, 27, today works as a labourer on building sites for £350 a week and plays rugby for London Irish as an amateur.
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