Teenager detained for 20 months for assaulting American tourist

By Eimear Dodd

A teenage boy who instigated an “unprovoked” attack on an American tourist in Dublin City Centre almost two years ago has been told he will spend 20 months in detention.

American tourist Stephen Termini had gone out for drinks on the night of July 19, 2023, when he was subjected to a serious assault by three teenage boys on Store Street.

A now 17-year-old, who initiated the attack, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm earlier this month and was before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing.

He was 16 at the time of the attack, the court heard. He can’t be named for legal reasons.

Two other boys separately pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm and violent disorder. They were aged 14 and 15 at the time of the attack and were handed periods of detention last year.

Imposing sentence on the now 17-year-old, Judge Martin Nolan said Mr Termini was “minding his own business” when the first boy attacked him “pretty viciously” for reasons only known to himself.

He said the boy “instigated an unprovoked assault upon Mr Termini who was a guest of this country”.

Having considered the mitigation and the boy’s personal circumstances, the judge said the central question for the court was whether the defendant could be “rehabilitated and changed by actions that don’t amount to custody”.

The judge said the court had “reluctantly” decided that custody was necessary. Noting that the boy has previous convictions including for assault causing harm, Judge Nolan said he “got his chances from other courts and he didn’t take it”.

He said the boy displayed a “total lack of insight” into Mr Termini’s welfare on the night and “attacked him viciously”.

“He must suffer hopefully to change,” Judge Nolan said, imposing a period of 20 months in detention.

The judge said the boy “has to change, and it seems previous chances by the courts didn’t help him to change”.

The boy appeared distressed while the sentence was handed down. A large number of friends and family were in court to support him.

After the court rose, a man attempted to approach the boy in the dock, but was asked to stand back by prison officers and gardai.

Mr Termini was also in court for the sentence hearing. The court heard he has since changed his surname to Donnelly, to reflect his Irish heritage.

Judge Nolan previously imposed a 32-month period of detention on the second boy involved in the attack last July and handed a 26-month period of detention to the third boy last October.

The court was shown CCTV and dashcam footage of Mr Termini walking on Talbot Street shortly after 10.30pm.

He walked past a group of teenagers, then turned back and appeared to talk with some of them.

A witness said he saw Mr Termini talking to two girls, with one shouting “go away”.

The first boy, then 16, started to attack Mr Termini and dropkicked him at least four times.

A witness said he saw a boy kick the victim in the legs, then shout to the second boy who was nearby on a bike.

The second boy, then 15,  kicked Mr Termini eight times. The first boy moved away, then appeared to take out his phone to make a recording. He had no further active involvement in the attack.

The second boy is also seen in the CCTV footage holding the victim and dragging him by the jacket.

Mr Termini ran towards Store Street and the second boy continued to kick him.

The third boy, who was watching from across the street and aged 14 at the time, then became involved, punching Mr Termini once and knocking him to the ground.

The second and third boys went to check on Mr Termini before fleeing the scene. The first boy can be seen in the background in the CCTV footage, before he runs in another direction.

Other witnesses said they saw the victim with his hands over his face, indicating he didn’t want to fight.The court heard the entire incident lasted around three minutes. The three boys were identified from CCTV.

The boy who instigated the incident exercised his right to silence when interviewed by gardai. His mother voluntarily brought a tracksuit to the garda station which she said he had been wearing on the night. This matched one seen in the CCTV footage.

The boy initially took a trial date, but pleaded to assault causing harm earlier this month.He has nine previous convictions for offences including for assault causing harm, violent disorder, theft, trespass and public order.

The court has heard that Mr Termini was initially taken to the Mater Hospital and was later transferred to Beaumont Hospital. Mr Termini has no recollection of the incident.

A medical report outlined that he sustained bleeding to the brain along with skull, orbital and cheek fractures. Mr Termini required an emergency sight-saving procedure and specialist intensive care for two weeks.

The court heard he has experienced ongoing health issues due to the extent of the brain injuries.In a victim impact statement read to the court on his behalf by Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting, Mr Termini said “it’s not right that they altered my life completely”, and he “never saw the attack coming”.

He said he had medical and other costs of  €103,000. He said he forgives the boys, but would like them to help cover his costs.

He said he had suffered after-effects, including PTSD, constant pain and trouble sleeping. Mr Termini said he can’t walk without a cane, has rods in his back and can no longer speak clearly.

Mr Termini said he doesn’t hold what happened against the “good people of Ireland”. He concluded his victim impact statement asking “ what about me? Honest, hardworking, Doesn’t bother anyone. What about me?”

The investigating garda accepted a suggestion by Conor Devally SC, defending, that Mr Termini “did no more than try to talk to some girls at the side of the street before he was laid into”.

It was further accepted that the kicks inflicted by this boy didn’t cause Mr Termini to fall to the ground.

The garda told Mr Devally he “can’t say what part of the assault” affected Mr Termini, but accepted that this boy pleaded to a charge of assault causing harm, while the other two boys had pleaded to the more serious charge of assault causing serious harm.

The witness also told Mr Devally that his client’s previous conviction for assault causing harm related to an incident in 2022 which has “somewhat similar circumstances” to this one.

He also said the boy had come to garda attention last December following a search of his home for the  possible possession of a small amount of cannabis, but he is not before the courts on this.

Mr Devally submitted to the court that his client’s actions are a “different form of offending and of another nature” to the other two boys and “didn’t give rise to serious harm that Mr Termini is going to continue to suffer”.

Mr Devally asked the court to take into account the contents of a probation report and other materials. He said the shock of his involvement in this incident encouraged his client to engage fully with available services and supports.

He said his client has a history of cannabis use, and reported to his key worker when he “slipped recently and used” the drug.

The defendant has ADHD and a history of school difficulties, which led to him not sitting the Junior Certificate. He has recently started an education programme for early school leavers and is involved in sports.

Defence counsel said services working with his client have noticed improvements and increased maturity, but there is an awareness that further progress is required.

Mr Devally asked the court to consider imposing a sentence which included a suspended element to help his client continue on this path towards rehabilitation, adding that a  “tight rein that would encourage and deter anything of backward step”