Man stabbed in unprovoked attack while unloading his car in Dundalk
A man ran across a green area, pulled a large kitchen knife from his pocket and stabbed his victim in the chest
A 23 year old man who stabbed a man in the chest in an unprovoked attack in County Louth, has been jailed for two and a half years at Dundalk Circuit Court.
Oisin Quinn McDonagh of Castleross, Dundalk pleaded guilty to assault causing harm arising out of the incident at Castleross on June 7th 2023.
CCTV footage showed the victim was unloading his car when the defendant ran across a green area, pulled a large kitchen knife from his pocket and stabbed the then 36 year old man in the chest, and ran off towards the Maxol garage on the Castletown Road.
The injured party was treated at the scene by paramedics, before being rushed to Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
He was discharged from hospital six days later.
The defendant was identified after CCTV captured him removing his face mask and discarding a knife and the jacket he was wearing.
Although he allowed investigating gardai access to his medical records, the injured party didn’t make a statement of complaint or a victim impact statement and it was not known why the attack had happened.
The defendant had a high security prison escort in court, with prison officers wearing riot helmets.
He was beset by mental health problems from a young age, had a difficult childhood and adolescence and suffered from auditory hallucinations and paranoia and had extreme anxiety over perceptions that he was the subject of adverse comments by others.
Judge Dara Hayes, who noted the consequences of the assault could have been more severe and been dealt with at the Central Criminal Court, sentenced him to three years and three months with the final nine months suspended, back dated to July 9th 2023 to allow for time spent in custody for a separate sentence.