By Isabel Hayes
A man who is serving nine years for stabbing a woman multiple times in the vagina has been given an additional two-year jail term for a violent robbery, once again involving a knife.
The 22-year-old man, who can’t be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery of a man at Dean Swift Square, Dublin 8 on December 16, 2023.
He committed the knifing offence against the woman three months later in March 2024 in what was described by the sentencing judge as a “misogynistic” and “depraved” attack. His release date for that offence is April 2029.
In relation to the robbery incident, Garda Christine Kelly told Jennifer Jackson BL, prosecuting, that the victim in the case – a young man – was walking home from work in Temple Bar around 11pm on the night in question, when he noticed three young men, including the defendant who was armed with a knife, engaged in slashing the tyres of parked cars.
The man called out to the trio, who then surrounded him and the defendant started threatening him with the knife. They started assaulting him, with one of the men choking him from behind while the defendant took his phone and smashed it against a wall.
They took his wallet containing bank cards and were demanding his PINs – threatening him they would go to his home address on his driving licence if he lied about it – before fleeing the scene.
As the victim walked away, he thought he had stepped in a puddle, but when he looked down, he realised blood was pouring from his leg. He got help in a nearby bar and was taken to hospital.
As well as cuts to his eyebrow and lip, he had a five-inch deep laceration to his calf that required surgery, the court heard. He has since made a recovery and did not wish to make a victim impact statement, the court heard.
The defendant has 26 previous convictions, mostly for drug offences.
Keith Spencer BL, defending, said his client is remorseful for his actions that night and wished to give an “unreserved apology”. He said the man had a “turbulent” upbringing, spent much of his childhood in care and has bipolar disorder and ADHD.
At the time of the offending, he had lost his accommodation and one of his friends had died.
Sentencing him on Wednesdsay, Judge Orla Crowe said it was “protracted robbery” and the accused was “the leader of the gang”.
She noted his apology for his involvement, the fact that he has a drug problem and his bi-polar disorder before she said a headline sentence of five years was warranted in the case.
Judge Crowe reduced the sentence to three years and said it must be served consecutive to the sentence the man is currently serving. The final 12 months of the three-year term was suspended.