A man who was one of a group of individuals who left a victim with life-threatening injuries following an attack in a Dublin city centre laneway has been jailed.
Jordan Maguire (24), of no fixed abode, was the only person who gardaí were able to successfully identify having viewed CCTV footage of the assault on December 21st, 2022.
Carol Doherty BL, prosecuting, told the court that it was accepted by the State that while Maguire can be seen striking at the victim with an implement, he is not responsible for the more serious head and facial injuries suffered by the man.
She said that the victim suffered slash wounds to his face, puncture wounds to his back, neck and arms and had to undergo life-saving surgery following the attack.
Maguire pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to the man in Dublin city centre. He has 51 previous convictions, including assaults.
Judge Martin Nolan jailed Maguire for three years and nine months.
He said Maguire was one of a group of men that decided to attack the victim by knocking him to the ground, slashing his face with blades and using either knives or a screwdriver to assault him.
He accepted that the man needed life-saving surgery and has been left with severe and permanent facial scarring.
He said a victim impact statement, read into the record by the man’s partner, was “comprehensive and truthful” about the impact of the attack on the man.
Judge Nolan accepted Maguire’s guilty plea and acknowledged that tragedies in his own life “probably caused him to take the wrong turn” but he added that the attack was at the highest level of seriousness for such offences.
The man’s partner read his victim impact statement into the record in which he described the attack as “a senseless act of violence – that left me for dead”. He said it has taken “a physical, emotional and psychological toll” on him.
“It has shattered my life, and I am living in a constant state of worry and sadness,” the statement continued.
He said he endues pain every day due to headaches and the attack “irrevocably altered my sense of security and it has been replaced by anxiety and fear”.
He said he avoids large social gatherings as he “constantly faces intrusive questions about his scars”.
He now suffers from severe anxiety which he never struggled with before.
The man said he suffered a loss of six months’ worth of earnings because he was unable to return to work for some time following the assault.
The man referred to the fact that most of the perpetrators of the assault “are still roaming free” which has left him with “a deep-seated frustration”. He said these people must be held accountable “not only for me but also to prevent the same thing happening to anyone else”.
“I am left with permanent scars on my body and mind,” the man concluded his statement.
The court heard that the man was down a laneway near Temple Bar in Dublin when he heard a person shouting at him. He could not understand what they were saying, but he understood that the comments were directed at him.
He heard someone say “get the blade” before he saw six young men walking towards him.
The CCTV footage of the assault shows the man falling to the ground at some point before he is attacked. He was struck to the face and back of the head. He was also attacked with either a screwdriver or knife which caused puncture wounds to his back and neck.
In the aftermath of the attack, the victim is covered in feathers, which had come from his jacket as it was sliced during the assault. He later described feeling “skin hanging off my face”.
The man was taken to hospital and staff there later told gardaí that without medical intervention the man’s injuries would have been life-threatening.
Maguire was identified from CCTV footage and arrested the following February.
It was accepted that Maguire’s plea was of assistance to the prosecution as the victim was very concerned about giving evidence at trial.
Oisín Clarke BL, defending, said his client’s mother died suddenly in her sleep. He was very close to her and “things went downhill” after that, counsel said.
Maguire began taking cannabis, tablets and drinking every day and he was asked to leave the family home. He ended up living on the streets.
Mr Clarke agreed with Judge Nolan that his client had “taken an active part in the assault” but asked that he accept that he was not responsible for the most serious injuries.
“All of the assailants were involved together in attacking him,” Judge Nolan said “it could not be more clear”.
