Two Cork men jailed for spree of racially motivated attacks in the city

The court heard that both men had rehabilitated extensively since this drink-fuelled night of assaults and had expressed remorse, and that Paul Murphy denied being racist

Both men were sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment, with the last year suspended for Mr Murphy and the last 18 months suspended for Mr O’Mahoney. File picture: Dan Linehan

A spree of racially motivated assaults on three foreign nationals in Cork City by two local men on the same night resulted in them being jailed on Friday.

Garda Ross Broekhuizen was asked at the sentencing hearing for the two men - 29-year-old Paul Murphy of 62 Commons Road, Cork, and 28-year-old Ryan O’Mahoney of 16 Carrig Court, Mahon, Cork – what the motivation was for both men to engage in three violent attacks on the same night.

Garda Broekhuizen said the assaults were all racially motivated. In one case they voiced racial slurs as they stood out on the road in front of the injured party cycling by. They knocked him off his bicycle, punched and kicked him to the ground, racially abused him and threw his bike repeatedly at a wall.

This happened at 9.45pm on August 14, 2023, at Sullivan’s Quay, Cork. Around this time at Dunbar Street they stopped a taxi and when told by the driver that he could not take them at that time, they punched his face through the open window of the car. Paul Murphy kicked him in the face through the window.

The taxi driver lost a dental implant as a result of his injuries. He no longer works at night out of fear and he carefully chooses his customers. He hopes that one day he will feel safe in Cork City again.

The third man who was attacked at Margaret Street suffered the physical trauma of losing a tooth and other physical injuries but psychologically he also suffered the fact that he was injured in front of his wife and children as he parked his car outside their home, which had a traumatic effect on his family as well as on himself.

Arraigned at Cork Circuit Criminal Court they each pleaded guilty to all three counts against them.

Sentencing

Judge Boyle said that what happened on August 14, 2023, was a spree of racially motivated assaults. She noted that both men had rehabilitated extensively since this drink-fuelled night of assaults and had expressed remorse, and that Paul Murphy denied being racist.

Both men were sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment, with the last year suspended for Mr Murphy and the last 18 months suspended for Mr O’Mahoney.

Barristers, Niamh Stewart and Alan O’Dwyer, for Mr Murphy and Mr O’Mahoney, respectively, stressed that their clients were very intoxicated on the night and highly apologetic since.