A carpenter who admitted carrying out a “nasty” alcohol-fuelled unprovoked attack on an adult store worker in Dublin has been given a four-month suspended sentence.
Shane Duane (35), who moved to England to work and lives at Hillcroft Crescent, Wembley, appeared before Judge Michele Finan at Dublin District Court.
He pleaded guilty to assault causing harm at the Good Vibrations shop on Wexford Street on December 15th, 2019, and was also ordered to give €2,000 to his victim before the case was finalised. Judge Finan suspended the sentence on condition he does not reoffend in the next two years.
The court had heard that Duane entered the shop and “assaulted a member of staff there and punched him in the face in an unprovoked attack”.
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The 29-year-old shop worker suffered a broken nose but did not provide a victim impact statement or come to the hearing. However, he had remained in touch with the investigating officer Garda Aidan O’Boyle, and the court heard that he required medical procedures to heal a broken bone.
Duane, identified by CCTV, had 28 prior convictions in Ireland, mainly from 2012 to 2013. They included assaults, criminal damage, engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour, and trespass. His past cases were dealt with in Loughrea and Birr district courts, resulting in suspended sentences.
Defence counsel Luke O’Higgins said his client trained to be a carpenter in Galway and moved to the UK for work. He had stopped drinking, but at the time of the attack, he had been sent back to Ireland for a job.
Counsel said it was a “nasty” incident and Duane gets “quite aggressive” when he drinks, but he saw the error of his ways.
Mr O’Higgins asked the judge to note that his client has been attending counselling in the UK, and the attack happened more than four years ago.
Judge Finan stated that the victim had been “doing his job” and ended up in hospital. She also rejected the defendant’s offer to pay €1,000 to the shop worker and told Duane to “be realistic”, so he doubled the amount.
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