Man involved in ‘cowardly’ attack in which teenager lost sight in one eye jailed for 3 years

By Jessica Magee & David O’Sullivan

A man involved in a “cowardly” and “unprovoked” attack in which a young woman lost vision permanently in one eye has been jailed for three years.

Alanna Quinn Idris was hit in the face with the saddle of an electric scooter by a male during an attack by four youths on her and a friend on the Ballyfermot Road on December 30, 2021.

Ms Quinn Idris, then aged 17, was knocked unconscious and left with a shattered tooth, broken cheekbone and a ruptured eyeball.

Despite numerous reconstructive surgeries, she has lost vision permanently in her right eye as a result of the attack.

Josh Cummins (19) of Raheen Drive, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Alanna Quinn Idris on December 30, 2021.

He further pleaded guilty to a count of violent disorder and one of production of an article – a hurl – in the course of a dispute.

He also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Louis O’Sullivan as part of the same incident. Cummins has no previous convictions and was aged 17 at the time.

Sentencing him today, Judge Pauline Codd described the attack as “unprovoked”, “shocking” and “egregious.”

She said the group of men involved in the attack were “cowardly” and that “there must be general deterrence from such intense street violence.”

Judge Codd noted that “the consequences of violence, however brief, can be devastating” and described Ms Quinn Idris as an “immensely brave and positive person” who showed “maturity beyond her years”.

“Often young men don’t think of the consequences of their actions,” she said, adding that when they commit violent acts they “frequently do this as part of a herd mentality.”

Judge Codd said the attack destroyed two lives, both Cummins’ own “but much more fundamentally that of Ms Quinn Idris”.

She said the aggravating factors of the attack include that Cummins brought a hurl and “used it viciously,” the “life-changing” injuries sustained by Ms Quinn Idris and the fact that Cummins continued fighting while she lay unconscious and seriously injured.

The mitigating factors included that Cummins pleaded guilty, his “youth and immaturity at the time” and that he has no previous convictions, the judge said.

Judge Codd sentenced Cummins to five years’ imprisonment for the counts of assault causing serious assault and violent disorder.

She suspended the final two years for the sentences for assault causing serious harm and violent disorder on strict conditions.

She further handed him a three year sentence on the count of assault causing harm.

All sentences are to run concurrently.

Addressing journalists outside court, Ms Quinn Idris said the sentence was “disappointing” but that she was glad Cummins received a custodial sentence.

She said: “I appreciate what the judge has done for me”, but added, “I feel kind of let down.”

Ms Quinn Idris said she will remember the attack “every day for the rest of my life” and that she does not believe Cummins is remorseful.

The court previously heard that Cummins is the youngest of the accused and that there is no suggestion that he struck Ms Quinn Idris.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the case is based on the principle of joint enterprise, where if two or more people enter into a plan to commit a crime, each person is responsible for the actions of all the others in pursuit of that common design.

In March of this year, Cummins’ co-accused, Darragh Lyons (19), was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for assault causing serious harm to Ms Quinn Idris.

Lyons, of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Louis O’Sullivan and to violent disorder as part of the same incident.

Another accused, described in court as ‘Suspect A’ is before the courts.

The fourth male, ‘Suspect B’, has not been identified.