A man who punched a visiting Austrian doctor and his son after they refused to give him money has been jailed for three years.
The doctor lost teeth as a result of the attack by Jake O'Neill (22). The accused was later involved in the robbery of a man who had given him a cigarette on the street.
O'Neill of Windmill Park, Crumlin, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm at Cappuccino Bar, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, on August 2nd, 2016.
He also pleaded guilty to robbery at James' Street, Dublin 8, on October 16th, 2017. He has 49 previous convictions, including convictions for assault causing harm, burglary, possession of drugs for sale or supply and violent behaviour in a garda station.
Coffee shop attack
Garda Padraig McMahon told Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that in August 2016, an Austrian doctor was visiting Dublin with his two children and they were sitting outside a cafe having ordered food.
Gda McMahon said they were approached by O'Neill who asked them for money four times. When they refused, O'Neill attempted to grab the glasses off their table and punched the doctor's son in the face when he tried to stop him.
O'Neill then punched the doctor in the face before running away. The Austrian doctor suffered a broken eye socket, fractures to his cheek bone and left jaw bone, and he lost some teeth as a result of the assault.
Mugging
Garda Richard Whiston told Ms Small that in October 2017, a man was returning home from work when he was approached by O'Neill who asked him for a cigarette. The man gave O'Neill a cigarette, who along with another person began punching the victim.
Gda Whiston said the man tried to flee but he fell to the ground and was kicked in the forehead by the second person. The man's phone, wallet and keys were taken from his pocket.
The victim was brought to hospital by a passer-by and was later able to identify O'Neill and the other man as the two muggers. O'Neill accepted he took part in the robbery and apologised, saying it was an “act of bravado” that only happened because he had taken drink and drugs.
Drugs
Gda Whiston agreed with Michael Hourigan BL, defending, that his client was the person who initiated the robbery and that he punched the victim, but that he was not the person who kicked the victim in the head.
Mr Hourigan said his client had a drug addiction from an early age. He said his client grew up in a “decent and loving household” but that his family had not been in a position to keep him in the house after he relapsed in a significant way.
Judge Elma Sheahan noted that the Probation Service placed O'Neill at a high risk or re-offending. She said there was no mandatory consecutive element to consider in this case.
Judge Sheahan sentenced O'Neill to three-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the final six months of the sentence on strict conditions.
