Man jailed for serious attack on former colleague

By Eimear Dodd and Claire Henry

A man has been jailed for attacking a former colleague, leaving him with serious facial scarring.

Adam Mitchell McGrath (32) caused a serious cut to the injured party’s face, which left him requiring 120 stitches and surgery.

In a victim impact statement, the injured party said he believed the attack was intended to end his life and outlined the effects on him.

In a separate incident, McGrath, who has a diagnosis of Schizophrenia, threatened staff working in a shop and caused over €15,000 worth of damage.

McGrath of Crestfield Drive, Whitehall, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm and making threats to kill or cause serious harm.

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said he must deal with this defendant in relation to two particular crimes. Regarding the incident in the shop, this defendant “made extreme threats, and these were very believable threats.”

Judge Nolan said the second incident related to McGrath becoming “fixated with this injured party. He broke the window of the injured party’s car and then slashed him with some type of blade. This man sustained awful injuries and required 120 stitches. This man required surgery, and he has been left with a very obvious scar and has difficulties with his speech.”

The judge said McGrath has mental health problems and has a diagnosis of Schizophrenia. He said, “Despite his knowledge of his condition, this defendant went off his medication and his condition returned”. He noted the mitigating factors as his guilty plea, his remorse for his actions, his previous good record and work history, and that he is doing well in custody.

Judge Nolan agreed with the Director of Public Prosecutions that this fell within the 8–10-year range and set a headline sentence of eight and a half years. He stated that mental health problems and conditions should be considered as mitigation factors, saying, “This does not excuse the crime, but it should be taken into account.”

Judge Nolan sentenced McGrath to six years in prison, with the final two years suspended for two years. He also placed McGrath under the supervision of probation services for two years post-release and instructed that he carry out all directions they deem necessary. Additionally, Judge Nolan stated that McGrath is to have no contact, directly or indirectly, with the injured party in this case.

He concluded by saying that “if his mental health issues were not there, he would be facing a much higher prison sentence”.

The court heard that gardai were called to a building site near St Anne’s Park on the morning of October 23, 2023.

They saw a car parked outside the site, which had a damaged driver’s side window and blood on the front seat.

The injured party was on the building site, and members of the Dublin Fire Brigade were treating him.

He told gardai that he had parked in the car park near the building site and was on a call when he saw McGrath coming towards his car.

McGrath was shouting at him and told the injured party to get out of his car. The injured party was afraid and locked the car doors, but lowered the window slightly to talk to McGrath.

The defendant tried to open the door, then broke the driver’s side front window. The injured party tried to move out of the driver’s seat but was unable to as the seatbelt had locked.

McGrath cut the injured party across his face, then stabbed him in the leg.

The injured party told gardai he was concerned McGrath was trying to slit his throat and kill him due to the movement of the knife.

While seriously injured, the victim managed to move the car to the building site and raise the alarm.

He sustained a deep laceration to his face, which required surgery, and a facial nerve, saliva duct, vein and artery were also severed as a result of this injury.

The court heard that McGrath and the injured party had worked together earlier in the year and initially had a cordial working relationship.

However, McGrath sent a letter to a colleague of the injured party about a week before this incident occurred, which caused concerns.  There was no basis in reality to what was contained in this document, the court heard, and the injured party asked that this letter be reported to the gardai.

Photos of his injuries were handed to the court. The victim also suffered a superficial cut to his leg and defensive wounds on his hands.

A victim impact statement was read to the court on behalf of the man attacked at the building site.

He said he believed the attack was intended to end his life, and he required 120 stitches across his face. He said he has been left with permanent scarring.

He said he has been left with other physical consequences of the attack, which are a “daily reminder” of what happened to him and will be with him for the rest of his life.

He has ongoing emotional trauma and suffers from nightmares. The injured party said the attack has also affected his family, friends and colleagues.

He said the scarring has changed how he approaches his work, and he wonders what people assume about him when they look at his face during meetings.

He asked the court to take into account not only the physical and emotional effects of the assault, but the loss of his ability to move freely in the world without the fear of unwanted judgment.

The injured party was in court and stood up following a request from Judge Nolan.

An investigating garda told the court of a separate incident in which McGrath went to a bike shop on Clontarf Road on October 17, 2023, where he demanded a refund from a shop worker.

After a shop worker explained that it would take time for a refund to be processed, McGrath said he would “burn this place down”.

McGrath left the shop briefly, then started banging on the windows with a hammer, breaking some of the panes of glass.

Another worker, who heard the threat, came out from the back of the shop and saw McGrath smash the windows.

McGrath noticed he was trying to take a photo of him and shouted at the shop worker, “you’re dead”, before running at him with the hammer.

This shop worker, fearing he was going to be attacked, closed the door in an attempt to slow McGrath, who smashed the window in the door with the hammer.

McGrath re-entered the shop, then kicked over a number of bikes. He left the shop with the hammer in his hand, still shouting.

The court heard that five people were working in the shop at the time, and they were fearful for their safety.

Over €15,923 of damage was caused during this incident.

McGrath was arrested and interviewed. Nothing of evidential value was obtained about the attack at the building site, but he identified himself on CCTV in relation to the incident at the bike shop and made admissions.

McGrath has no previous convictions.

The investigating garda agreed with Fiona Murphy SC, defending, that McGrath has mental health issues and was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in his early 20s.

It was further accepted that McGrath has been in custody since his arrest and was transferred to the Central Mental Hospital for a period of time.

The garda also accepted that the letter written by McGrath contained delusions, which have no basis in reality.

It was also agreed that McGrath was not on the garda radar.

A psychological report, a letter of apology and other documents were handed to the court.

Ms Murphy said her client instructed that he wished to plead guilty, though the reports suggested he could have chosen to plead not guilty by reason of insanity if the case went to trial.

Counsel said her client wished to offer a full and unreserved apology for his actions, is aware of the seriousness of his offending and accepts full responsibility.

She said her client was diagnosed with Schizophrenia, engaged with services and was taking his medication, but it appeared at some point he stopped taking his medication.

McGrath’s parents were in court to support him. Ms Murphy noted her client is willing to engage with services post-release but acknowledges that he must be punished.

Counsel said her client is now aware that he cannot stop taking his medication and asked the court to take into account his serious mental health difficulties.