Two "feral youths" who stabbed a teenager 14 times in a vicious and premeditated attack have received combined jail sentences of 13-and-a-half years, with the judge warning them that they were "a millimetre away from doing a life sentence" and "should be down on their knees giving thanks" they are not.
Sentencing Sean Johnston (22) and his now 20-year-old co-accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Mr Justice Tony Hunt called the case "very disturbing" and described the very "calculated degree of violence" on the then 16-year-old victim as "shocking".
Mr Justice Hunt said both defendants "fitted the bill" for the term "feral youth", which he said was occasionally used by the media. He said he found the case disturbing because it was perpetrated by "people so young".
He described the victim impact statement previously given by the victim's mother as "absolutely remarkable" in "its humane and charitable manner".
"If she can approach the matter in that way, I feel somewhat compelled to approach the matter in that sense," he added.
The Central Criminal Court had heard evidence that Johnston had bragged about stabbing the victim, had described himself as a "gangster", and at one point started "rapping down the phone" to his ex-girlfriend having admitted to the attack.
The court has also heard evidence that Johnston threatened his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, saying: "I puncture people's lungs and leave them in hospital on life support. How is he not sh***ing himself?"
The judge said there were two separate "streams of crime" in the case, the first which concerned the breakdown of Johnston's relationship with his ex-girlfriend, which revolved around her new partner, and then the defendant's disproportionate response to the breakdown of that relationship.
'Heartbreak'
Last July, in her victim impact statement, the victim's mother called for support and guidance for the two defendants who were teenagers when they stabbed her son.
The mother, who could not be named to protect her son's identity as he was a minor at the time of the assault, said she felt "heartbreak" not just for her son, but also for the two men who inflicted his injuries.
Mr Justice Hunt described the mother's statement at the time as "charitable and moving", and said he had recently heard a case where a man died from a single stab wound.
The judge said he would echo the comments of a surgeon who said the victim in this case was lucky to be alive.
The two defendants, he said, could "count themselves lucky they are not facing a mandatory life sentence".
Sean Johnston (22), of Russell Place, Russell Square, Tallaght, Dublin 24, had pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to the then 16-year-old victim at Tymon Lane in Tallaght on January 2nd, 2021.
He had also pleaded guilty to six threats to kill another teenager, unrelated to the victim of the stabbing, via text message and once verbally at the Red Cow Luas stop in Dublin 22 on April 14th, 2021.
Johnston's co-accused pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious harm to the teenager and to making a threat to kill or cause serious injury to another teenager, intending him to believe the threat would be carried out, at the Red Cow Luas Stop on April 14th, 2021.
Both were initially charged with attempted murder, but the State accepted their pleas and dropped the more serious charges.
'Terrifying incident'
Passing sentence on Monday, Mr Justice Hunt said he had opted to impose a concurrent regime on the two defendants, which took into account the totality of the wrongdoing in each of their cases.
The judge said the men's actions were premeditated, and it was not something that had blown up in a heated moment.
He said the victim had been "lured" to a location through the "wonders of social media" and the parties were unknown to each other.
He said both men had brought large and highly dangerous knives to the scene and set about using them in what must have been a "terrifying incident" of a violent attack.
Referring to the victim, Mr Justice Hunt said he had sustained 14 stab wounds all over his body, and commented that it was a matter of millimetres whether a knife blow is fatal or not, depending on what way the knife is inserted.
He said everybody had been very lucky in the case, not least the accused men.
The judge said the victim was permanently damaged by the event and in her victim impact statement, his mother had referred to his enduring difficulties.
The judge said the threats made by Johnston could be seen as some sort of misguided lesson or bravado, but not when the established capacity for violence was examined.
He added: "There are disturbing straws in the wind. He [Johnston] wondered what it was like to stab someone."
The judge said the defendants had dismissed this as "loose talk" at the time, but it did not seem so loose in light of subsequent events, adding that it had created a worry as to what was going on in Johnston's mind.
Mr Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of 16 years for Johnston and 13 years for the second youth.
Referring to Johnston's co-accused, the judge said the defendant was just under 18 at the time, so he would make a "modest allowance" for his youth and "trim" the sentence back to 11 years.
The judge said the main benefit both men had were their guilty pleas, adding that he would therefore apply one quarter of a discount to both sentences, resulting in a sentence of 12 years for Johnston and eight years for his co-accused.
Mitigation
Mr Justice Hunt said there were other "weighty" mitigating factors applicable to each defendant.
He said Johnston had no previous convictions, and "two remarkable features" of the case were the voices of the defendant's aunt and the victim's mother.
He described the victim impact statement given by the victim's mother as "absolutely remarkable" in its humane and charitable manner.
"If she can approach the matter in that way, I feel somewhat compelled to approach the matter in that sense," the judge added.
Mr Justice Hunt said Johnston would do well to bring himself under the influence of his aunt, who had seen the wound her nephew sustained in the aftermath of events at Tymon Lane and, instead of covering up for him, had immediately gone to the authorities.
"Bad for her nephew, but good from her point of view. She made an eloquent plea. I feel I have to build it in [the sentence] to reflect these very unusual features," he said.
The judge said whilst Johnston is at a high risk of re-offending, he needed to avail of services to address these tendencies which he had developed in his youth.
The defendant was sentenced to 12 years in prison with the final four years suspended for a period of eight years to take into account the mitigating factors. His sentence was backdated to September 30th, 2021.
The judge warned: "I want him to understand if I have average good luck, I'll still be around. I do not want to see or hear from him again, there is no threshold below which this sentence will not be imposed.
"I'm only doing it because of the remarkable features of the case, both men were millimetres away from doing a life sentence, they may think this is a long sentence, but they should be down on their knees giving thanks."
In relation to the second youth, the judge imposed a sentence of eight years imprisonment with the final two-and-a-half years suspended, resulting in a sentence of five-and-a-half years. His sentence was backdated to January 28th, 2022.
Finally, the judge warned the two defendants that their suspended sentences would be fully imposed if there was any trouble from them.
He also told the courtroom that the victim's mother was a "very special sort of person".
