Man to be sentenced for syringe assault
A homeless man, who recklessly stabbed another man with a syringe after a row broke out while he was begging for money is to be sentenced in October at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court .
Stephen Morgan Jackson (aged 25) of YMCA, Aungier Street in Dublin, pleaded guilty to recklessly causing harm to Mr Sean Fagan on April 14, 2007 outside the Foggy Dew public house in Temple Bar.
Garda Darragh Kenny told Mr Paul O’Carroll, BL, prosecuting that Jackson was being restrained by a number of people, including the injured party, outside the public house.
“The accused was begging for money and Mr Fagan, who had gone outside for a cigarette, had told him to go away. The accused appeared to be upset by this and sought an apology but it seems to blow up from there,” said Gda Kenny.
Gda Kenny agreed with Ms Elva Duffy, BL that it was Mr Fagan who brought Jackson to the ground and then a scuffle broke out.
Jackson had a syringe in his hand and the syringe was stabbed into Mr Fagan’s thigh drawing blood.
“It was not intentional of the accused to stab Mr Fagan and he wasn’t holding the syringe as a weapon but to use to take his heroin,” said Ms Duffy.
Jackson, who has seven previous convictions, has been homeless since he was 15 years of age and had a “very traumatic and troubled childhood.”
“He wanted to finish his Leaving Certificate but as she was sleeping rough outside the school he couldn’t do this,” said Ms Duffy.
“He now wants to try and improve his situation.”
Ms Duffy said that Jackson is very “empathic” towards his victim and had indicated to gardaí that he did not have a drug-related illness that could be passed onto Mr Fagan following the stabbing with the syringe.
“But he does understand the anxiety Mr Fagan went through until he got the all-clear from different tests he had to undertake,” said Ms Duffy.
Judge Patricia Ryan said she was “impressed by his wish to continue his education” and accepted the stabbing was “reckless rather than intentional.”
She adjourned sentencing until October for a Probation and Welfare Report.
