Suicidal teen given suspended sentence for assault

A Dublin teenager who made a suicide pact with his co-accused has been given a four years suspended jail sentence for a drink and drugs-fuelled assault which left another teenager with permanent facial scars.

The 17-year-old pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to stabbing the victim on the arm and under his left eye and cheek with a broken bottle on August 28, 2006.

Detective Garda Brian Lyons told prosecuting counsel, Ms Fiona Murphy BL that the the victim had a brief heated exchange in a fast-food shop with the youth's 15-year-old co-accused who had become aggressive toward the girls working behind the counter when they said he couldn't change his order.

Det Gda Lyons said the young man declined the youth's invitation to go outside to fight and left the chipper with his order after the boy had gone but when making his way home along Infirmary Road he was approached by both the 17-year-old and the 15-year-old and a fight broke out.

Det Gda Lyons said the 17-year-old voluntarily admitted to gardaí that his friend had started the fight but he decided to help when he saw he was losing.

He admitted he used his glass alcohol bottle to stab the injured party in the face and shoulder.Both admitted to punching and kicking the injured party several times in the face and back while he lay on the ground.

Det Gda Lyons said that the injured party felt blood flowing down the left side of his face after the assault and could feel sharp pains under his eye and in his arm.

He picked himself off the ground and made his way home where he was taken to the Mater Hospital for treatment for his wounds.

Det Gda Lyons told Ms Murphy that the man received plastic surgery on his face under general anaesthetic and remained in hospital for two days. He now suffers permanent scarring on his face and is often "unfairly assessed as a trouble-maker" due to his appearance.

Det Gda Lyons said the victim, who wants to join the gardaí, suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, occasional flashbacks of the asssault and doesn't feel safe walking home at night or being around groups of young people.

Det Gda Lyons agreed with defence counsel, Ms Caroline Biggs BL, that her client made a voluntary admission to the gardaí and apologised to the injured party with his co-accused when they "bumped into each other" after the assault.

He agreed that the 17-year-old had a "dark family history" and was effectively left to fend for himself from the age of eight.

His mother suffered a brain haemorrhage from alcohol abuse in 1999 but continued to drink when she came out of a coma and had three nervous breakdowns in the subsequent years. She was also recently diagnosed with cancer.

Det Gda Lyons said the boy's father also had alcohol problems and agreed that these family cirumstances might have provoked him to make a suicide pact with his 15-year-old co-accused.

Judge Tony Hunt complimented Det Gda Lyons for "going above and beyond the call of duty in liaising with all parties".

He also told Det Gda Lyons to extend his compliments to the injured party who he described as a "very courageous and forgiving individual."

Judge Hunt told Ms Biggs that her client was "very fortunate that he happened upon such a generous victim" and added: "I don't know had I been in that situation would I have been so forgiving."

He told Ms Sandra Frayne BL, defence counsel for the 15-year-old, that he will review her client's situation this summer pending a report from St Joseph's, Clonmel.

He acknowleged that both boys were genuinly sorry for their actions but sympathised with the injured party who he believes might "always be looked upon as a trouble-maker and unfairly assessed in job interviews and outside nightclubs."