Kabir Adeyemo, 19, from Drumcairn Parade, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children’s Court to his role in a melee on March 26th last year, which brought traffic on a busy road to a standstill.
The incident was investigated after footage was posted online and had more than 100,000 views on social media, Judge Brendan Toale heard.
He was juvenile, aged 17, at the time but was an adult by the time his case came before the court.
Garda Ronan McLoughlin told Judge Toale the incident happened at 6.45pm at the Belgard Road in Tallaght.
Melee
Adeyemo was a passenger in Ford Fiesta, which was stopped at a junction when another car pulled up.
Words were exchanged between parties in both cars. Adeyemo got out of the Fiesta with a bat and proceeded toward the driver of the other car.
Three people got out of the second car and attacked the youth and the Ford Fiesta driver and “there was a melee between the five of them”.
The road was blocked and traffic could not pass, the court heard.
Adeyemo got back into the Fiesta and drove at one of the men who had to jump out of the way, Garda McLoughlin said.
The incident came to Garda attention after a video of the incident was uploaded to social media and was viewed 106,000 times, the court heard.
The garda agreed the accused was co-operative, explained why it happened and made admissions.
The youth was charged with violent disorder.
Probation Service
Defence solicitor Brian Keenan said: “There were two groups that did not see eye to eye. He saw red and that is why he engaged in this behaviour in a public place.”
The apprentice mechanic is now an adult and realises that his actions could have caused harm, the solicitor said.
Mr Keenan said the youth had engaged well with the Probation Service in relation to his offending behaviour and drug use.
The youth also pleaded guilty to driving on two other dates without a licence or insurance, and giving gardai a false name on two other dates.
Judge Toale noted Adeyemo was deemed suitable for ongoing probation involvement, and the length of time since the incident. He said it was a serious incident and noted the accused had no prior criminal convictions.
He sentenced him to 12 months’ supervised probation and he imposed a four-year driving ban on the youth.
He was also fined €150.
