A man involved in a “cowardly” and “unprovoked” attack in which a young woman lost vision permanently in one eye has been jailed for three years.
Alanna Quinn Idris was hit in the face with the saddle of an electric scooter by a male during an attack by four youths on her and a friend on the Ballyfermot Road on December 30th, 2021.
Ms Quinn Idris, then aged 17, was knocked unconscious and left with a shattered tooth, broken cheekbone and a ruptured eyeball. Despite numerous reconstructive surgeries, she has lost vision permanently in her right eye as a result of the attack.
Josh Cummins (19) of Raheen Drive, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Alanna Quinn Idris on December 30th 2021.
He further pleaded guilty to a count of violent disorder and one of production of an article - a hurl - in the course of a dispute.
He also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Louis O'Sullivan as part of the same incident. Cummins has no previous convictions and was aged 17 at the time.
Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Pauline Codd described the attack as “unprovoked”, “shocking” and “egregious.”
Cowardly
She said the group of men involved in the attack were “cowardly” and that “there must be general deterrence from such intense street violence.”
Judge Codd noted that “the consequences of violence, however brief, can be devastating” and described Ms Quinn Idris as an “immensely brave and positive person” who showed “maturity beyond her years”.
“Often young men don't think of the consequences of their actions,” she said, adding that when they commit violent acts they “frequently do this as part of a herd mentality.”
Judge Codd said the attack destroyed two lives, both Cummins' own “but much more fundamentally that of Ms Quinn Idris”.
She said the aggravating factors of the attack include that Cummins brought a hurl and “used it viciously,” the “life-changing” injuries sustained by Ms Quinn Idris and the fact that Cummins continued fighting while she lay unconscious and seriously injured.
The mitigating factors included that Cummins pleaded guilty, his “youth and immaturity at the time” and he has no previous convictions, the judge said.
Sentence
Judge Codd sentenced Cummins to five years' imprisonment for the counts of assault causing serious assault and violent disorder. She suspended the final two years for the sentences for assault causing serious harm and violent disorder on strict conditions.
She further handed him a three-year sentence on the count of assault causing harm. All sentences are to run concurrently.
Addressing journalists outside court, Ms Quinn Idris said the sentence was “disappointing” but that she was glad Cummins received a custodial sentence.
She said: “I appreciate what the judge has done for me”, but added, “I feel kind of let down.”
Ms Quinn Idris said she will remember the attack “every day for the rest of my life” and that she does not believe Cummins is remorseful.
The court previously heard that Cummins is the youngest of the accused and that there is no suggestion that he struck Ms Quinn Idris.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the case is based on the principle of joint enterprise, where if two or more people enter into a plan to commit a crime, each person is responsible for the actions of all the others in pursuit of that common design.
In March of this year, Cummins' co-accused, Darragh Lyons (19), was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for assault causing serious harm to Ms Quinn Idris.
Lyons, of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Louis O'Sullivan and to violent disorder as part of the same incident.
Another accused, described in court as 'Suspect A' is before the courts. The fourth male, 'Suspect B', has not been identified.
Day of incident
At a previous sentence hearing, Garda Kieran Murphy told Edward Doocey BL, prosecuting, that the four males carried out an organised and violent attack on Ms Quinn Idris and Mr O'Sullivan, who were unarmed.
Gda Murphy told the court that the attack took place in a residential area next to Ballyfermot Civic Centre at 9.40pm on the night in question.
Ms Quinn Idris and Mr O'Sullivan, along with another friend, got a bus home from Liffey Valley Shopping Centre at 9.25pm.
'Suspect A' was on the bus, but there was no interaction between the parties at this stage.
The attack took place a short time after a brief verbal dispute between 'Suspect A' and Mr O'Sullivan after all parties had got off the bus.
'Suspect A' phoned Cummins, who arrived at the scene on an electric scooter with 'Suspect B'.
Ms Quinn Idris, Mr O'Sullivan and their friend crossed the road. The two victims waited outside while their friend went into their house.
The court heard Cummins and 'Suspect B' walked along the opposite side of the road to where the victims were standing, before returning to the bus stop where they were joined by 'Suspect A' and Lyons. Cummins retrieved a hurl he had left by a tree near the bus stop.
Gda Murphy said the four males then crossed the road towards Ms Quinn Idris and Mr O'Sullivan. They were screaming: “Do you want a knock?”
Lyons ask Mr O'Sullivan if he wanted a “straightener”. Ms Quinn Idris intervened and was punched by Lyons in the face.
'Suspect B' removed the saddle from the electric scooter. Lyons and Mr O'Sullivan were fighting, and Cummins and 'Suspect B' also began attacking Mr O'Sullivan.
Ms Quinn Idris attempted to pull Lyons and Cummins off her friend. She also tried to stop 'Suspect B' from striking her friend with the saddle.
'Suspect B' then swung the saddle at Ms Quinn Idris and struck her to the side of the face. She was knocked unconscious. The court heard some of the group jumped over Ms Quinn Idris while she was laying on the ground to continue the attack..
Gda Murphy said all four males were involved in the attack on Mr O'Sullivan, during which he was stabbed in the left arm.
The court heard a knife was found at the scene, but it is not attributed to Cummins.
The attack lasted one minute and stopped when passing motorists intervened. The four males fled the scene.
Mr O'Sullivan was punched to the head and struck multiple times by the hurl and the saddle.
He was taken to hospital by ambulance and was treated for a cut to the top of his head and a 2cm stab wound to his arm, both of which required stitches. He also had bruising and tenderness.
Ms Quinn Idris was also taken to hospital by ambulance with a broken eye socket and then transferred to the Eye and Ear Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery.
She has since had numerous reconstructive surgeries to her right eye socket and a bone graft taken from her hip. She has lost vision permanently in one eye, the court heard.
CCTV footage of the attack was played to the court.
Cummins was identified from CCTV. He was arrested on February 6th 2022 and interviewed three times with a solicitor and his father present. Nothing of evidential value was obtained from the interviews.
Gda Murphy agreed with Anne Rowlands SC, defending, that her client arrived at the scene after receiving a call from Suspect 'A', who is related to him. It was accepted that there was no history between Cummins and the victims.
It was also agreed that Cummins is the youngest of the accused and that there is no suggestion that Cummins struck Ms Quinn Idris. The garda accepted that Cummins gave his phone and pin number to gardai, which was of assistance.
Ms Rowlands told the court this was a “vicious assault” and said Ms Quinn Idris was a “courageous young woman who attempted to defend her friend”.
She said her client left school at 13 and was working at the time of the attack. A probation report and letters from Pieta House and Cummin's aunt were handed to the court.
Ms Rowlands said her client came from an “unstable” background and that Cummins “did something he should never have done.”
Victim impact statement
A victim impact statement was read to the court on behalf of Mr O'Sullivan. He said his mother has since moved from the area. The statement also outlined the impact of the attack and his concerns for his friend.
Reading her victim impact statement, Ms Quinn Idris said she was still discovering all the ways “this awful attack” has hurt her and set her life in a different course.
“I feel embarrassed, mortified and heartbroken. I cannot look in the mirror without entirely disassociating and at times I’m overcome with flashbacks,” she said, adding that she did not look or feel like the same person.
“People used to tell me I should model - I didn’t like it, it made me feel uncomfortable. I never felt I was beautiful, but I wish I’d listened to them. I’ve never been the most confident girl, but I had a little, until my attackers took that away,” she said.
Ms Quinn Idris thanked the local community for their support and the local gardaí for their hard work, expressing the hope that this work will result in her attackers facing appropriate consequences for their actions.
Judge Codd thanked Ms Quinn Idris and commended her for her courage.
