Boy jailed as gang ‘propels’ stabbing victim into canal

A 17-year-old who was part of a gang that stabbed a man multiple times and pushed him into the Royal Canal has been given a three-and-a-half-year sentence.

The court heard the accused claimed to be a person shown on CCTV footage helping the victim, who could not swim, get out of the water afterwards. The footage is too indistinct to identify that person or to identify which of the group had stabbed the victim.

The boy, who cannot be identified as he is a minor, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm at Royal Canal Bank on May 18, 2015.