Tallaght teenager part of gang that assaulted two men

By Brendan Grehan

A TEENAGER (17) who was part of a three-man gang that assaulted two men at a Luas stop on St Patrick’s day 2015 may meet the men he attacked, Tallaght Court has heard.

The teenager was 16 at the time of the offence.

One of the victims suffered a fractured skull while the other had a plate inserted in his cheek.

The court heard that the teenager could not look at the cctv footage of the incident when he was shown it in Tallaght Garda Station.

The teenager (17), with a Tallaght address, had pleaded guilty to assaulting two named males, causing them harm at a location in Tallaght on March 17, 2015.

He was before the court for victim impact statements and to hear from the prosecuting garda.

Garda Francis Glennon told Judge Patricia McNamara that he had the victim impact statements in court

He said that the incident happened on St Patrick’s Day 2015. Garda Glennon said the injured parties had been attending an event in Tallaght Stadium and had walked over to get the Luas.

They had got on the Luas at the terminal and the tram moved 20 metres or so to the first stop.

He said that the injured parties were on the Luas and words were exchanged between them and a group of males who were on the platform. Garda Glennon said they did not know what words were exchanged as there is no audio on the cctv.

He said a punch was thrown onto the Luas but it was unclear as to who had thrown it.

Garda Glennon said the injured parties went from the Luas onto the platform where they were kicked on the ground by three men, including the teenager.

Garda Glennon said there had been five males involved, but only three were charged.

He said the three males left the scene but two returned, not the teenager, and kicked the men again.

Judge McNamara asked the teenager what it would be like to be attacked like that.

The teenager replied: “It’s not nice.”

Garda Glennon said: “Of the three of them, he is the only one who expressed remorse. His grandmother was shaken up by the whole incident. When the footage was shown to him, he wasn’t able to look at it.”

Judge McNamara said it would be good if the Restorative Justice Services could organise the teenager to meet the injured parties.

Garda Glennon said he was not sure if the injured parties wanted to meet the teenager. One of the injured parties had moved away from Tallaght.

Judge McNamara remanded the teenager on continuing bail to a date in January for a restorative justice report.