Man jailed for role in assault and abduction of homeless man

By Sonya McLean

A man who played “a central role” in the attack and abduction of a homeless man has been jailed for three years.

Wade O’Brien (32) of Park Na Sillogue, Enniskerry, Wicklow, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to affray at Rathsallagh Park, Shankill, on April 5, 2021. The court heard that the State accepted the plea of guilty on the basis of full facts of the case.

O’Brien has 172 previous convictions including 42 road traffic, drugs, theft and public order offences.

Garda Declan Hartley told Michael Hourigan BL, prosecuting, that the victim turned up at a stranger’s house that morning just after 9.30am with obvious injuries. The woman brought him into her home and contacted the gardaí.

When the gardaí arrived, the man, who was homeless at the time, had clear swelling and was bleeding heavily. He was unable to stand and an ambulance was called for him. He was later treated for a fractured wrist and severe bruising and cuts.

He told gardaí that he had been in a friend’s house in Shankill when four men arrived, attacked him, bundled him into the boot of a car and then dumped him around the area where the gardaí met him.

Gda Hartley said the man didn’t co-operate further with the investigation and had not prepared a victim impact statement.

Judge Pauline Codd watched CCTV footage of the attack which showed four men going into the house in Shankhill, with O’Brien the last man to enter the property.

A car was then seen being pulled up in front of the house, with the boot open before the victim was bundled into it.

Judge Codd said the victim had been “savagely beaten” and said that it was clear from the footage that O’Brien was “central to this sinister attack”.

“He can be seen beating down on the victim with a baseball bat,” Judge Codd said before she added that the offence involved “considerable pre-meditation” as the car had been driven to the house with the boot open.

Judge Codd said although O’Brien pleaded guilty, she noted that the CCTV footage was “quite strong”.

She acknowledged that his plea of guilty was helpful to the prosecution of the case as the victim had not co-operated with the investigation.

Judge Codd accepted that the plea was to an affray but said there was an “effective abduction which was part of the general matrix of the case”.

She set a headline sentence of five years before she reduced the sentence to four years having taken into account the fact that O’Brien has remained out of trouble since the offence.

Judge Codd suspended the final year of the sentence on strict conditions including that O’Brien remain drug and alcohol-free for the duration of the term.

Gda Hartley told Mr Hourigan that gardaí called to the house in Shankhill and found there was blood splattering around the hallway, even though attempts had been made to clean it up.

Gardaí spoke to neighbours and they confirmed that a man had been bundled into a car by a group of men. They secured CCTV footage from the area.

Gda Hartley said that O’Brien can be seen on the footage with an object in his hand, “while using a striking motion”. He said the victim was then “violently put in the car” before it pulled off. The driver drove 6km before the victim was dropped off.

Feargal Kavanagh SC, defending, said his client is hard working and plans to set up his own landscaping business.

He said O’Brien fell into the abuse of drugs and offending as younger man but submitted that the majority of his offences are for road traffic convictions.

Mr Kavanagh said that his client had previously been friendly with the victim and offered him accommodation but Judge Codd interjected “with friends like that who….”.

He said the assault arose over an issue about a car and said that his client could have “brazened it out” when he became aware that the victim was not going to give evidence at trial.

Mr Kavanagh suggested that this was a case in which O’Brien has reached “a turning point and sees the error of his ways” before referring to his relationship with his current partner.

Counsel said that the woman has “not seen this side” of O’Brien, adding that his client supports his partner, her children and his own child.