Teen left passer-by unconscious in unprovoked attack

A teenage father-of-one whose unprovoked assault left a passer-by unconscious in a pool of blood on New Year's Day has been sentenced to three years in prison by Judge Frank O'Donnell.

Richard McNally (aged 19) of Kilcross Park, Sandyford pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to 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 jailed for two months late last year for stealing the wheels from a car.

Judge O'Donnell said that Mr McDonald was "attacked for no reason whatsoever" and described it as "a gratuitous assault" which had left him with a visible scar.

"He will carry this scar for a long, long time, like so many others who are attacked for no reason by thugs on the street," Judge O'Donnell said.

He accepted that McNally had no previous convictions for a violent offence but said that this would be of "little consequence to your victim".

Judge O'Donnell suspended the last year of the sentence on the condition that McNally be of good behaviour and keep the peace for four years upon his release from custody.

He had reprimanded McNally and his girlfriend at an earlier hearing for smirking at each other in court and told her she was doing him "no favours" by "undermining the whole thing".

Garda Seamus O'Neill told prosecuting counsel, Ms Marie Torrens BL that 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 was calling his brother in Australia when the youths started shouting and running towards him, one throwing stones and the other swinging an 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 BL, said McNally was a chronic ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder) sufferer and showed psychological problems from a young age.

She also said he had a girlfriend with whom he had a child who was born last March while he was in custody.