Teen mugger jailed for stab attack on student

A knife-wielding mugger who stabbed a young student in the abdomen while trying to rob his phone, has been sentenced to six years in prison with the final year suspended.

The accused, who cannot be named because he was a 17-year-old juvenile at the time the offence was committed, received lesser sentences at Galway Circuit Criminal Court for four other random attacks on people at various locations around the city in the early hours of September 6, 2015.

He pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court last January to eight charges relating to the possession of a knife, threats to kill, robberies, attempted robberies, causing serious injury and assault causing harm.

Detective Marie Conneely told his sentence hearing last Friday week he refused to co-operate and answer any questions put to him during five interviews in April 2016 and maintained his innocence at all times.

He did admit having the knife, claiming he had taken it from a friend’s house before leaving a party but would not give this friend’s name or address.

Gardai doubted his story about being at a house party at all that night.

A senior barrister, who represented the accused under the Free Legal Aid Scheme, said his client had told him he took cocaine before leaving a party that night and while that was no excuse for his client’s violent behaviour it was being proffered as an explanation, he added.

The first attack occurred at 2.10am when the accused followed and threatened to stab a primary school teacher walking home to Dún na Coiribe on the Headford road.

The teacher turned and faced down the accused and he ran away in the direction of Woodquay.

Moments later a 18-year-old student was stabbed in the abdomen, face and hand as he tried to fend off the accused at Woodquay.

The accused had asked to use his mobile phone and had then slashed him across the face and stabbed him in the stomach and hand when he refused to hand it over.

He underwent emergency lifesaving surgery that night for a laceration to his liver and later had to have surgery to his left hand for defensive wounds sustained during the attack.  He had been left with permanent scarring to his face, hand and abdomen.

The accused left his victim lying in a pool of blood and ran towards Bothar Irwin where he threatened a couple with the knife.

They later told Gardai they ran for their lives towards Eyre Square.

Around the same time, two tourists rang Galway Garda Station to report they had been walking along the Headford Road earlier when they were accosted by a male who robbed them of their mobile phones and a wallet at knifepoint.

Det Conneely said the fifth and final incident occurred on Market Street at 2.40am when a man was stabbed several times in the left arm as his attacker tried to snatch his wallet from his hand.

The accused was arrested a few minutes later in Eyre Square where the teacher identified him to Gardai.

He put up a violent struggle and had to be pepper-sprayed and then tasered before Gardai could effect an arrest.

Two mobile phones fell from his clothing during the struggle while the knife he had used was found concealed in his sleeve.

He gave a false name on two occasions, remained aggressive towards Gardai at the Garda Station and was deemed unfit by a doctor to be interviewed until the next day.

Judge McCabe said he needed time to consider psychological and probation reports which were handed into court and he adjourned sentence for one week to last week’s court.

Judge McCabe said the psychologist had found no mental disorder which might explain the accused man’s behaviour on the night.

A probation report was worrying too, he said, because it placed the accused at a high risk of reoffending and expressed concern about his previous and current propensity towards violence.

It stated the accused had latent anger-management issues and attributed alcohol and drug use as contributing factors to his violent tendencies.

Judge McCabe said it was sad to have to send a young man to prison at a time in his life when he should be pursuing his education but the interests of justice could only be served, he said, by a custodial sentence given the violence involved in the attacks that night.

He said the knife attack on the young man at Woodquay was the most serious offence and he sentenced the accused to six years in prison for that with the final year suspended for four years.

He imposed concurrent, four-year and three-year sentences for the remaining offences with the final year suspended in each case for four years on condition the accused come under the supervision of the probation service on his release from prison for 12 months, be of good behaviour and not reoffend, and inform the probation service of any change of address.

The sentences were backdated to last October when the accused was first taken into custody.