Suspended sentence for girl who kicked man on ground
A teenage girl, who, while drunk on a litre of vodka, repeatedly kicked a man in the stomach while he lay on the ground and was simultaneously attacked by four others, has been given a six-month sentence.
The girl (aged 17) had been found guilty of assaulting a 23-year-old American man at Dublin’s Aston Quay, on March 13 last. Judge Bryan Smyth described the gang attack as “quite appalling”.
The victim said that he had been robbed on Westmoreland St by three men who had taken his wallet. He followed to ask for his property back when he was struck from behind and set on by the men at which point the girl joined in the attack.
“I was punched and kicked by the group of five or six. She was one of the ones involved in the kicking and punching. I was on the ground most of the time,” he told the court.
“I tried to fight back but there was really nothing I could do,” he said adding that he thought the girl kicked him in the stomach six times and then went through his pockets.
Eventually the girl and the group of attackers left and he got help from a taxi driver.
The taxi driver said he saw the girl and another sharing out the contents of a wallet and that when the victim approached him his face had been covered in blood.
Defence counsel Mr David Dodd had told Judge Smyth that his client had no defence to enter.
She had drunk “a litre of vodka and does not remember what happened”.
However the girl had instructed him that if she was one of the attackers “she would feel very sorry for him”.
The girl had six previous convictions, mostly for public order violations.
In mitigation the court was told the girl, who was accompanied to court by her father, was on a training course and none of her siblings had been in trouble.
Judge Smyth said that in the past the girl had been given community service and a fine but she was now limiting the court’s option in terms of sentencing.
“People should be able to go about their business without having to suffer such an assault,” he said.
"She was part of a group, what happened was unacceptable and quiet appalling in fact."
He also noted today that a report on the teenage girl showed that the Probation Services were prepared to work with her. The girl remained silent during her hearing.
Judge Smyth imposed a six-month sentence but suspended it on condition the girl was of good behaviour, accepted guidance from her probation officer and committed no further crimes within the next year.
He warned that the sentence would be activated if she broke these conditions.
