‘Stoned’ teenager jailed for stabbing rugby fan

A teenager who was “stoned off his head” when he stabbed a rugby fan in an unprovoked attack in Limerick city has been jailed for two years.

Joseph O’Loughlin, of Glenbrook, Old Singland Road, Limerick, was just 16 when he stabbed the victim, in the side, with a butterfly knife on Catherine St.

Now aged 18, the teenager had no previous convictions at the time of the attack but, the court heard, had since amassed 35 convictions for a number of other offences including burglaries and thefts.

He pleaded guilty at Limerick District Court to assault causing harm to the man, in his 30s.

The stabbing took place in the early hours of May 7, 2011, when O’Loughlin’s victim, a Galway man, was socialising in Limerick.

Earlier that night, the man had watched Connacht play Munster at Thomond Park and headed into the city afterwards with a friend.

Around 1.20am at the junction of Little Catherine St and Thomas St, they encountered O’Loughlin who was acting aggressively.

O’Loughlin stabbed the man on his left side and then fled, but was spotted by gardaí a short distance away with blood on his hands and in possession of a bloodied butterfly knife.

The court heard gardaí are satisfied there was no provocation for the attack.

In a letter of apology read to the court, O’Loughlin said he was truly sorry for his actions.

Mark Nicholas, defending, said his client was “stoned out of his head” at the time of the stabbing and said all of his previous convictions were caused by addictions.

Judge Carroll Moran suspended the final two years of a four year sentence.