James O’Neill, a 57-year-old resident of Courtney Place, Ballybough, Dublin 3, has been sentenced to serve an 11½-year prison term for a brutal attack on his elderly neighbour. O’Neill ambushed his 73-year-old neighbour, Patrick Hansard, in a stairwell in the wee hours wielding a shove. Before the attack, he even took a masked “selfie” while holding the shovel, which was later recovered from his mobile phone by the Gardaí.
Mr Hansard, now 78 years old, sustained multiple severe injuries during the assault, including a traumatic brain injury, a cervical spine fracture, skull fractures, haematoma, and various wounds. He remembers nothing from the incident but continues to bear its after-effects.
A jury found O’Neill guilty of causing severe harm to Mr Hansard after a trial conducted earlier this year, in relation to the attack which occurred near Mr Hansard’s home on the 17th of August 2019. While delivering the sentence on Monday, Judge Elva Duffy highlighted the substantial impact of the crime on Mr Hansard, and she expressed the court’s recognition of his dignified handling of the situation.
Judge Duffy pointed out the unprovoked nature of the attack carried out by O’Neill on a man 20 years his senior. She also remarked on the premeditated aspect of the crime, considering O’Neill had lain in wait with a weapon. Despite acknowledging O’Neill’s past convictions were outdated and that alcohol had played a part, as well as a letter from his daughter citing his potential for good, Duffy stated the trial was conducted swiftly.
Judge Duffy initially intended to impose a 13-year sentence, but certain mitigating considerations resulted in a final sentence of 11½ years.
In a late-night disagreement at a local pub, an exchange of words occurred between neighbours, as Sergeant Enda O’Sullivan recounted to Eoghan Cole BL, the prosecutor. Mr Hansard made his way home alongside his partner after O’Neill had already departed. His partner, stopping for a chat en route, ended up separated from Mr Hansard. She later observed a man masked in white departing from Hansard’s flat’s stairwell and entering O’Neill’s residence.
She located Mr Hansard lying injured, prompting a call to the paramedics. Around this period, O’Neill was seen socialising with other neighbours. The police secured a search warrant for O’Neill’s residence, finding a mobile phone which revealed a “selfie” of O’Neill donned in the mask, wielding a spade, captured in the stairwell where the assault transpired just 15 minutes before Hansard’s return. The attire in the image correlated with the clothes O’Neill wore that night.
During the investigation, despite sharing his phone’s unlock code, O’Neill’s statements yielded no valuable evidence. His criminal record comprises two prior convictions, including causing physical harm in 1992, for which he was handed a deferred sentence, and a public order violation.
Eoghan Cole BL informed the court about Hansard’s miraculous recovery from the assault, despite him still encountering setbacks in daily life. Detective Sergeant O’Sullivan accepted the defence lawyer, James Dwyer SC’s assertion that the mask featured in an old photo, dating back to months before the attack, refuting the idea it was purchased specifically for the assault.
In his impact statement, Mr Hansard, born in a rough and challenging neighbourhood on Gardiner Street in 1946, explained the only violence he ever faced was this 2019 ordeal. He used to stroll to Dollymount Strand every day, however, now he struggles to walk more than 400 meters and his movement on one side is permanently impaired. The bloody attack has drastically transformed his life and will afflict him for the remainder of his days.
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