Man has sentence for unprovoked attack adjourned

A 19-year-old father-of-one, whose unprovoked assault on a passer-by on New Years Day left him unconscious in a pool of blood, has had his sentence adjourned at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Richard McNally (aged 19) of Kilcross Park, Sandyford pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on Mr Jason McDonald on Kilgobbin Road, Stepaside in the early hours of January 1, 2006.

McNally has 64 previous convictions, all racked up in the past two years, for offences including assault, theft and possession of a knife . He was sentenced to two months in prison earlier this week for stealing the wheels from a car.

Garda Seamus O'Neill told prosecuting counsel, Ms Marie Torrens BL, Mr McDonald was out for a walk in the early hours of the new year when he passed McNally and another youth sitting on a bench.

The victim, in his 30s, was calling his brother in Australia when the youths started shouting and throwing stones at him. They ran towards him, one throwing stones and the other swinging a object on a rope. Mr McDonald managed to grab the rope but was forced to the ground where they knocked him unconscious with stones.

He woke up shortly after in a pool of blood and gardaí arrived. McNally was arrested later that month but refused to say anything in interview.

Defence counsel, Ms Sandra Frayne, said he was a chronic sufferer of Attention deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and showed psychological problems from a young age. She said he had a girlfriend with whom she had a child who was born last March while he was in custody.

Judge Frank O'Donnell reprimanded McNally and his girlfriend for smirking at each other in court and told her she was doing him "no favours" by "undermining the whole thing".

He granted Ms Frayne's request to delay sentencing to allow for the preparation of a probation report and adjourned the case until February.