A homeless woman who gave birth in custody has been sentenced to six years in prison for slashing the stomach of a good samaritan who intended to help her on a Dublin street.
Donna Dineen (23) inflicted a 25cm stab wound on the stranger believed she needed help after hearing her arguing with a man. Dineen, of Cedar House hostel in Dublin, claimed on arrest that she had acted in self-defence after the injured party pulled a knife on her.
“If he was there to help, I wouldn’t have done that to him,” she told gardaí.
She pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to Saurjan Syergaz (27) at St Benedict's Gardens, North Circular Road on May 8th, 2017. She further admitted to producing a knife and robbing the man's wallet on the same occasion. She has 17 previous convictions.
Garda Conor Mackey told Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that Mr Syergaz suffered a “horrific slash wound” and left a trail of blood from Dorset Street up North Circular Road, ending in a pool of blood at St Benedict’s Garden. A co-accused man has also been charged in relation to the offences.
Dineen gave birth to her first child, a son, in March at the Dóchas Centre in Mountjoy Prison.
Judge Melanie Greally sentenced Dineen to concurrent terms of six years for the robbery offence and five years for the assault. She suspended the final two years on strict conditions.
‘Unstable’
She said she had taken into account “the large amount of information in the reports” before the court. She said there was “no doubt” that Dineen had an “extremely unstable youth and early life”, noting that she had been a victim of violence and sexual abuse and had a dependancy on drugs and alcohol.
Judge Greally said she had also considered a letter Dineen had written to the court “expressing her regrets for her actions and her hopes for the future as a mother to her child”.
At a sentence hearing last July Carol Doherty BL, defending, asked the court to consider a suspended sentence so Dineen could attend a rehabilitation centre where she would be able to keep her baby with her for a further 18 months.
Under current regulations, a woman who gives birth in custody can only keep the baby with her in prison for 12 months, whereupon the child is released into the care of the HSE.
Ms Doherty said Dineen had written an eloquent letter to court in which she fully accepted her role in the offence and was deeply remorseful. Counsel said she was doing very well in custody and wanted to start life afresh with her baby son.
“Motherhood is not easy, but motherhood in custody is an added difficulty,” said Ms Doherty.