Man jailed for stabbing security guard in neck with pen

By Eimear Dodd

 A man who attacked a shop’s security guard, stabbing him in the neck with a ballpoint pen, has been jailed.

Conor Murphy (23) of Edenmore Avenue, Coolock, Dublin 5, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on March 18, 2021, at Centra, Neilstown Shopping Centre.

The court heard that this incident occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. The security guard observed Murphy attempting to enter the shop without a facemask.

He approached Murphy and asked him to put on a facemask, which he did. Later, there was an interaction in the shop between the security guard and Murphy’s girlfriend.

Murphy then approached the security guard before stabbing him three times in the neck with a ballpoint pen. A witness heard Murphy say to the victim that it was “lucky it’s only a pen”.

The victim suffered superficial injuries to the area under his neck. No victim impact statement was submitted to the court.

Murphy has six previous convictions, including for theft and assault causing serious harm, for which he received a six-year sentence. His earliest possible release date is November 2027.

The investigating garda agreed with defence counsel that Murphy was intoxicated at the time and didn’t cause any difficulties during the investigation.

Counsel for Murphy asked the court to take into account his guilty plea and other mitigating features of the case.

Judge Martin Nolan said Murphy was in “bad humour” on the day and “attacked the security man without reason”.

“It’s said the pen is mightier than the sword, but I don’t know about that,” the judge continued.

He noted that Murphy is currently serving a custodial sentence and has a record of previous convictions, which is “not too bad as records go”.

Judge Nolan handed Murphy a sentence of 16 months.