A man who wore a “Vendetta” mask while viciously assaulting his elderly neighbour with a shovel in the early hours of the morning has been jailed for 11 and a half years.
James O’Neill (57) took a “selfie” of himself wearing the mask and holding the shovel as he lay in wait in a stairwell for his then 73-year-old victim. Gardaí later found the picture on his phone.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Patrick Hansard, now 78 years old, suffered multiple injuries, including skull fractures, lacerations, haematoma, a fracture to his cervical spine, and a traumatic brain injury. He has no memory of the assault but continues to suffer ongoing effects.
O’Neill of Courtney Place, Ballybough, Dublin 3, was convicted by a jury following a trial earlier this year of causing serious harm to Mr Hansard in a stairwell near his home on August 17th, 2019.
Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Elva Duffy noted the significant impact the offence had on Mr Hansard and extended the court's appreciation for the dignified way he had attended court.
Judge Duffy noted it had been a completely unprovoked attack by O’Neill on someone who was 20 years his senior. She said there had been an element of pre-meditation in that he had lain in wait for his victim and used a weapon.
The judge noted O’Neill’s prior convictions were historical, that there was an element of intoxication, and referred to the letter from his daughter noting O’Neill was someone with the capacity to do good. She took into account the trial had been run in an expeditious manner.
Judge Duffy set a headline sentence of 13 years, but taking into account mitigating factors, she imposed a sentence of 11 and a half years.
Sergeant Enda O’Sullivan told Eoghan Cole BL, prosecuting, that there had been a verbal interaction between the neighbours at a pub in the early hours of the morning. O’Neill left the pub and went home, while Mr Hansard walked home with his partner half an hour later.
Sgt O’Sullivan said that on the way, Mr Hansard’s partner stopped to talk to someone while he went ahead alone. A short time later, she saw a man wearing a white mask leaving the stairwell to Mr Hansard’s flat and going into O’Neill’s house.
She found Mr Hansard on the ground with injuries to his head. Paramedics were alerted and gave assistance. O’Neill was seen in the area interacting with neighbours at this time.
Gardaí obtained a search warrant for O’Neill’s flat and recovered a phone that contained a “selfie” photo of the accused wearing the mask and holding a shovel. The picture had been taken in the stairwell near where the assault took place about 15 minutes prior to Mr Hansard's arrival.
Other images on the phone showed the aftermath with Mr Hansard being treated and the arrival of the gardaí. Clothing recovered matched the clothing seen on the “selfie” and worn by O’Neill the previous night.
CCTV
CCTV pieced together the parties' movements. It showed a man coming from O’Neill’s flat wearing a mask and carrying a shovel at 2:18am, a few minutes before Mr Hansard walked in.
The same figure was seen leaving the stairwell before Mr Hansard’s partner arrived and went into O’Neill’s flat.
The mask was described in court as a “Guy Fawkes” or “Vendetta” style mask.
O’Neill was interviewed and assisted the gardai by supplying his phone's PIN, but nothing of evidential value came from his interviews.
Mr Hansard suffered multiple injuries, including skull fractures and a severe traumatic brain injury. He remained hospitalised from August 2019 to May 2020. Doctors were not initially confident of a significant recovery.
Mr Cole told the court that happily, Mr Hansard has since made a “remarkable recovery”, although he still suffers from impairments and difficulties in his daily life.
O’Neill has two previous convictions, one for occasioning actual bodily harm in 1992, for which he received a suspended sentence, and a public order offence.
Sgt O’Sullivan agreed with James Dwyer SC, defending, that the mask also appeared in an older photograph some months prior to the assault, so the mask had not been procured for the assault.
The Garda agreed with counsel that the accused had bought alcohol on the night and appeared to be under the influence to some extent.
In his victim impact statement, Mr Hansard outlined how he had been born in 1946 and grew up in tenement housing in Gardiner Street, which was considered a rough and difficult place, but the first violence he encountered was this offence in August 2019.
He outlined how it had been his daily practice to walk to Dollymount Strand, but the maximum distance he can walk now is 400 meters, and he has not fully recovered his movement on one side.
He said he has difficulty speaking, slurs his words and suffers from severe anxiety and depression. He said his life has changed completely and will suffer these changes for the rest of his life.
Mr Hansard thanked his family, friends and neighbours for their support over the past five years. He also thanked the gardai involved in the case for their dedicated work.
James Dwyer SC, defending, submitted that O’Neill had not been in trouble for over 20 years and had cooperated with the investigation. He said intoxication was a factor in the case, and there had not been premeditation over a long period of time.
Counsel handed in a letter from O’Neill’s daughter outlining how he had been a good and caring parent to her. He said O’Neill was a hard-working man and had a good work history. He said he had played a part in his local community, church and assisted others with his IT skills.
