Man sentenced to life for attempted murder

A Dublin man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted murder of a Jordanian man who he shot in the head at the Leisureplex in Dublin's Blanchardstown.

Darren Larkin (aged 23), of no fixed address, was convicted of attempting to murder 49-year-old Akef Alquasar in the early hours of February 20, 2006 earlier this month.

Sergeant Aiden Power told Mr Shane Murphy SC prosecuting, that the victim had been working in his job as security manager at the Leisureplex on the night of the incident. He had let another member of staff go home early as it was a quiet night and there were few people about.

At around 4.40am Darren Larkin entered carrying a sawn-off shot gun. Mr Alquasar recognised him immediately shouting out "Larkin, you bastard." Larkin ran forward and fired the gun hitting Mr Alquasar on the side of the head and shouted: "I got you". Mr Alquasar dived behind the nearby bowling reception and started throwing the bowling shoes stored behind it.

Mr Alquasar was overcome with emotion as he described the events in his strongly-worded victim impact statement. "I felt that it was the end of my life and my thoughts were of my wife and my children at this time."

He said Larkin "stepped back calmly and changed the cartridge from one chamber into the other chamber." Larkin's second missed, instead hitting the roof of the Leisureplex.

Sgt Power told Mr Murphy that Mr Alquasar had been taken into the witness protection programme at an early stage of the garda investigation that followed because of fears for his safety.

In a strongly-worded victim impact statement Mr Alquasar told Mr Justice Éamon de Valera that the effect of his life had been profound. He said that as a direct result of the shooting and the events that followed his marriage was effectively over, his children had lost a substantial amount of their education and his eldest son had had a nervous breakdown

He told the Court he had lived in Ireland for over 25 years. He and his wife had raised three children under difficult circumstances with little money coming in but had always managed. He and his wife had planned to purchase their local authority house. "But this will never happen now."

He said his wife had very close ties with her family especially since her sisters two sons were murdered recently. Since the shootings he told the Court, "my wife has suffered with her nerves and can no longer go back to her family and friends."

He said his eldest son had been moved to several mental institutions around the country and his younger son, who was studying for his Leaving Cert and was a promising soccer player, has had to leave school.

His daughter had lost four months of schooling as a direct result of the shooting and witness protection and he said, of himself, "I will never reside in Ireland again and I will have to endure the loss of my family and friends."

Det. Inspector Brendan Sherry, at the request of Mr Justice de Valera, told the Court that there had been six murders committed in the Blanchardstown area using firearms since January 1 2003. There had been over 50 shooting incidents over the same period and in the last year alone 94 firearms had been seized. The majority of these weapons were either sawn off shotguns or semi automatic.

Counsel for the defence, Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC said Larkin had received the majority of his 35 previous convictions from the District or Children's court and said that he had recently gained new responsibility after becoming a father for the first time.

Mr Justice de Valera said in coming to his decision he had examined both aggravating and mitigating factors but in this case there were "few if any mitigating factors."

Sentencing Larkin to the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the attempted murder charge he said failed to see why he should "avoid a life sentence merely because Darren Larkin is a bad shot." He also sentenced him to 20 years each for two further charges of possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.