Alanna Quinn Idris (before and after) the assault by a saddle of an electric scooter
Six years for man who made call that resulted in assault on girl
A man who procured an attack on a young woman, which resulted in her losing vision permanently in one eye, has been jailed for six years, reports Eimear Dodd and Isabel Hayes.
Jack Cummins (22) was responsible for bringing assailants to the scene of the attack on Alanna Quinn Idris and her friend Louis O’Sullivan, and was the person who instigated the pre-meditated violence, Judge Pauline Codd said while sentencing him on Tuesday.
The phone call he made to his cousin Josh Cummins that night “had disastrous and tragic consequences for Ms Quinn Idris”, the judge said.
“All the tragedy and heartbreak from that evening unfolded from that particular call,” she said.
Jack Cummins, with an address at Rossmore Road, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty to procuring the commission of assault causing serious harm to Alanna Quinn Idris on Ballyfermot Road on December 30, 2021.
He did so by phoning his cousin Josh Cummins (then aged 17), who arrived with two other assailants and attacked the pair.
Ms Quinn Idris (then also 17) was struck in the face with the saddle of an electric scooter, which fractured her eye socket and left her permanently blind in her right eye. Her friend Louis O’Sullivan was also assaulted during the incident.
Jack Cummins pleaded to further counts of violent disorder and assault causing harm to Mr O’Sullivan. He has no previous convictions and was aged 18 at the time.
Josh Cummins (now 20), of Raheen Drive, Ballyfermot, and Darragh Lyons (now 21), of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, have already been sentenced for their roles in the attack on Ms Quinn Idris and Mr O’Sullivan. A fourth man, who hit Ms Quinn Idris with the e-scooter saddle, has never been identified.
Judge Codd said Jack Cummins was the “catalyst for all that ensued and he must take responsibility for that”. She said he may not have foreseen the level of violence that was about to ensue, but that he was highly reckless in orchestrating an attack by four persons on two unarmed people.
She said he did not stop the two young men who arrived with his cousin and that he then led them to where Ms Quinn Idris and Mr O’Sullivan were standing on the street. Josh Cummins was armed with a hurl.
She noted Jack Cummins did not attack Ms Quinn Idris directly and that he failed to intervene at any stage to stop the “cowardly” violence. He then entered the fray and assaulted Mr O’Sullivan by striking him.
The judge noted the effects of the assault perpetrated on Ms Quinn Idris were “utterly catastrophic”. She paid tribute to her insight and mindset in meeting the case, which the judge said went “beyond her years”.
The judge noted Jack Cummins was 18 at the time of the offence, that he had no previous convictions and has expressed remorse, saying he will regret that phone call for the rest of his life.
He lives at home with his parents, is engaged to be married and works fulltime as a plumber. She said it was significant that a Probation Service report put him at a low risk of re-offending.
She placed his culpability for the offence of procuring the assault – albeit on the basis of recklessness – at the higher range for such offences, setting a headline sentence of 11 years.
Taking the mitigating factors into account, she reduced this to seven years and set a sentence of six years for the violent disorder charge and three years for the assault. She suspended the final year of the procurement offence and ordered that all sentences run concurrently.
The judge said the sentence must reflect the “catastrophic outcome” of the offence and act as a general deterrence against street violence.
Sergeant Michael Noonan previously told Edward Doocey BL, prosecuting, that the two injured parties and a friend had taken a bus from Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.
Jack Cummins and his girlfriend were on the same bus. After they all got off the bus on the Ballyfermot Road, there was a verbal exchange between Jack Cummins and Mr O’Sullivan.
Mr Doocey said the State’s case is that Jack Cummins procured the commission of the assault on Ms Quinn Idris by making two phone calls to his cousin Josh Cummins after this interaction. He also received a call.
He told the court that a “tacit agreement” could be inferred from the evidence. He also noted the presence of weapons and the outnumbering of the injured parties meant, “there was always a risk that more than minor harm could be caused”.
Mr Doocey submitted to the court that this agreement was formed before any interaction between the four men interacted with the injured parties.
Jack Cummins was not physically involved in the assault of Ms Quinn Idris, but did strike Mr O’Sullivan.
The attack lasted one minute and stopped when passing motorists intervened. The four men then left the scene.
Mr O’Sullivan was treated in hospital for a cut to his head and a puncture wound to his arm, which required stitches. He also had bruising and tenderness.
Ms Quinn Idris underwent emergency surgery that night as she sustained a broken eye socket. She has since had numerous reconstructive surgeries to her right eye socket and a bone graft taken from her hip. She has lost vision permanently in one eye, the court heard.
Photos of her injuries and medical reports were handed to the court.
Lyons pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Ms Quinn Idris, assault causing harm to her friend Louis O’Sullivan and violent disorder on Ballyfermot Road on December 30, 2021. He was given a sentence of four-and-a-half years in March 2023.
Josh Cummins received a five-year sentence, with the final two years suspended in November 2023 for his role in the incident.
He pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Ms Quinn Idris. He further pleaded guilty to violent disorder, production of a hurl in the course of a dispute and to assault causing harm to Mr O’Sullivan.
Reading her victim-impact statement to the court, Ms Quinn Idris said she is now “permanently facially disfigured” due to the attack.
She said this was “not just a random incident between strangers” and told the court there had been other unpleasant encounters between them in the past.
She said she believed Jack Cummins “would harass and target me so often because he did not like me”.
Later, she said she felt “so angry” as “none of this would have happened if he hadn’t made those calls that night”.
Evidence was heard that Jack Cummins and Ms Quinn Idris were known to each other. She had several earlier unpleasant encounters with him, some of which became physical.
In one of these incidents, he threw eggs at her and on another occasion, he pushed her to the ground after putting her in a headlock. The court heard this second incident occurred years before the events of December 30, 2021.
Sgt Noonan said it appeared this past engagement was why Mr O’Sullivan spoke to Jack Cummins after they got off the bus, saying: “Do you like putting girls in a headlock.”
Mr Doocey said it is the prosecution’s case that Jack Cummins made phone calls to his cousin as a result of this conversation, which led to the three other men arriving at the scene.
Keith Spencer BL, defending, said his client acknowledged he made the phone calls, but “did not intend the consequences which flowed – they are unfortunate and unforeseen”. He said there was no longstanding pre-meditation, but that it occurred in the moment.
He said his client maintained that his decision was made out of fear as he had been threatened and challenged by Mr O’Sullivan.
Mr Spencer noted the probation report assessed his client at low risk of re-offending
His client is engaged to his girlfriend who was present on the night and has a good work history.
A number of testimonials were handed to the court.
Mr Spencer suggested his client has “perfect mitigation” and his behaviour on the night was “out of character”.
Jack Cummins read out a letter of apology to Ms Quinn Idris.
He said he was truly sorry, wished he could turn back the clock and wished her well in her recovery.
