Teenager jailed for seven years for 'savage attack'

A Ballyfermot teenager who left a Lithuanian national in a "vegetative state" following what was described as "an unprovoked, savage and unwarranted attack" has been jailed for seven years.

Kevin Dunne (aged 19) of Ballyfermot Drive, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Vytautas Sukys (aged 48) causing him serious harm and to assaulting Sigitas Ziezdrys (aged 23) causing him harm on the bank of the Royal Canal, Phibsboro, Dublin, on September 25, 2004.

Detective Sergeant Colm Fox told Mr Fergal Foley BL, prosecuting, that Mr Sukys, an air pilot, had been left in a coma for almost five months as a result of the attack by Dunne and other men after they requested a can of beer from him.

Mr Sukys’ face had to be reconstructed after most of the bones in it were broken. Det. Sgt Fox said that when he regained consciousness he was left with no quality of life, not being able to walk, talk or do anything for himself.

Det. Sgt Fox said Mr Sukys had been the sole financial supporter of his wife and son and decided in October 2003 to move to Ireland, where he hoped he could make enough money as a landscape gardener to allow his family to follow him to Ireland.

Det. Sgt Fox said that Mr Sukys’ wife immediately came to Ireland to be with her husband following the assault but she had no financial support from the State and was totally reliant on charity for her survival.

Their son had to give up his university education in Lithuania because there were no funds available to support him.

Judge Hogan described Mr Sukys’ victim impact report as "harrowing reading", noting that Dunne‘s kicks to his head left him brain damaged.

He said that attack on two people going about their business "who had their freedom of movement impeded under the disguise of scrounging a can of beer" was "an unprovoked, savage and unwarranted attack".

Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC (with Mr John Fitzgerald BL), for Dunne, said Mr Sukys’ family were both financially and socially destroyed by this incident and it was to be regretted that "the State cannot look after victims of crime, particularly in circumstances where this man came to this country to better his life and that of his family".

Det. Sgt Fox told Mr Foley that Mr Sukys had just left an off-license with his friend Mr Ziezdrys and was walking along the canal bank when a group of youths approached them asking for some beer.

Mr Sukys tossed a can to the group, at which point two of them went over to him and started to attack him.

Mr Sukys received a blow to the head and fell to the ground, unable to defend himself. Witnesses said that Dunne kicked at his face and head eight to 10 times.

Mr Ziezdrys was also attacked by these men and was left with a broken nose, from which he has fully recovered.

Det. Sgt Fox agreed with Mr Foley that gardaí were satisfied that the attack on the men was not racially motivated. He said that anyone who was walking along the canal bank that evening might have been set upon by this gang.

Dunne was identified by gardaí as one of the attackers and was arrested the following day. He had four previous convictions for robbery and theft offences.

Det. Sgt Fox agreed with Ms Ring, in cross-examination, that Dunne had admitted to people in the hostel where he was staying that he had been "in a fight with Russians" that night.

He accepted that Dunne had got involved with a gang that caused a lot of trouble in that area of the city and that a number of these people were staying in the hostel with him.

Det. Sgt Fox told Ms Ring he was aware that the hostel where Dunne was staying was specifically for young homeless men. He said Dunne had told gardaí he had been drinking vodka that night and had a drug problem.

Ms Ring told Judge Hogan that her client had been living with a foster family from the age of one and stayed with them for 13 or 14 years, at which time his life became very disordered and he became addicted to drugs.

Ms Ring said Dunne was aware that Mr Sukys would clearly never return to proper health and he acknowledged the impact the attack had also on his wife and son. She said if Dunne was in a position to offer compensation he would do so.

Dunne also pleaded guilty along with a co-accused, Michael Rae (aged 18) of Kippure Park, Finglas, Dublin, to assaulting a French student causing him harm on April 24, 2004.

Garda Enda McCarthy told Mr Stephen McCann BL, prosecuting, that the student had left a pub in the city centre to have a cigarette, and finding that he did not have a lighter, stopped two men and a woman to ask them for a light.

The woman grabbed the cigarette out of his mouth and when the student protested saying that he had only two cigarettes left the two men began to laugh at him.

Gda McCarthy said the victim could not remember what happened after that but eye witnesses said that one of the men, now known to be Rae, head butted him causing him to fall to the ground. The other man, now known to be Dunne, then "kicked him in a violent manner" as he lay there.

The student suffered various lacerations to his face and a swollen nose. He had since recovered from his injuries but was unable to sit his university exams and had returned to France.

Judge Hogan sentenced Dunne to two years in prison for his attack on the French student. He sentenced Rae to two years in prison with the last 12 months suspended on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years.

Judge Hogan sentenced Dunne to seven years in jail for his attack on Mr Sukys and three years in prison for his assault on Mr Ziezdrys. All Dunne’s sentences are to run concurrent.