Man who was previously jailed for attack on a tourist is jailed for slashing a man’s face in prison

By Niamh O’Donoghue

A man who was previously jailed for an attack on a tourist in Temple Bar has been given a further five year sentence for slashing a man’s face in prison.

Glen Duff (38), of Doon Court, Poppintree, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty to assaulting an inmate in Cloverhill Prison on October 16, 2021.

He also pleaded guilty to a burglary on a pub on Great Strand Street in the city in which the front door was smashed in and €300 euro worth of alcohol was stolen.

Duff, who has 200 previous convictions, is serving a six-year sentence with the final 15 months suspended for his part in two robberies in Temple Bar in 2022 and the assault of a tourist.

His earliest release date was due to be January 2027.

The court heard there was history between the two men when the assault happened in the yard of Cloverhill Prison and the injured party sustained a deep cut “in retribution”.

Judge Elva Duffy said “clearly an implement was used in this matter” as the injured party received a “slashing injury” to his face.

She said Duff was “lucky” he was only charged with section 3 assault, otherwise referred to as assault causing harm.

The judge said Duff was very familiar to gardai around the city.

She said he had had a very tragic life and his mother had died when he was young.

The judge said he had an “institutional life” with polysubstance abuse since that time.

He is never visited in prison.

He started drinking and taking heroin at 13 years of age.

He spent most of his life in institutions, is from a dysfunctional family and developed a very early heroin addiction.

However, the judge noted Duff had been given the benefit of a suspended sentence in the past. She handed down a five year sentence but suspended the final year of it on strict conditions.