Man jailed for stabbing guest at house party
22/02/2012 - 14:19:19An uninvited guest stabbed a man twice in the stomach after been thrown out of a party, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
David Quinn (aged 25) was sentenced to four years after he forced his way back into the house swinging a knife at guests.
He wrestled with one of the guests, Matthew Miller, stabbing him twice and leaving him with two deep wounds in his stomach.
Quinn of Wellview Park, Mulhuddart pleaded guilty to violent disorder and threatening to use violence at Coolmine Lawns in Blanchardstown on January 19, 2010.
Garda Stephen Byrne told prosecuting counsel, James Dwyer BL, that Mr Miller and his friends were invited to the house party and arrived around 3am.
They knew all of the guests, bar three strangers, including Quinn, who were in the kitchen and not known to the party host.
One of the host’s friends told all the guests they should leave including the uninvited guests.
Quinn left but tried to push his way back into the house through the front door. He began waving a knife with a six-inch blade at guests and swung towards Mr Miller’s brother.
Mr Miller wrestled with Quinn on the ground and Quinn swung the knife towards his stomach, stabbing him twice in the lower abdomen.
Quinn, who has 37 previous convictions, ran from the house and was arrested by gardaí a short time later.
He told gardaí he “couldn’t remember much” about the incident as he had been drinking and taking drugs but claimed he was “acting in self-defence.”
Gerardine Small BL, defending, said Quinn is trying to address his drug addiction and is remorseful for what he did.
“He has very little memory of the night and this does not excuse his actions but he has pleaded guilty,” said Ms Small. “He accepts it is a very serious charge.”
Judge Martin Nolan suspended the last two years of the sentence and said it is “lucky more serious consequences did not ensue” as a result of the stabbing.
“Any crime with a knife is a serious crime,” he said but noted that Quinn has “good prospects of rehabilitation.”
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