DATING APP ATTACKER’S SENTENCE TOO LENIENT
DPP appeal of teen’s term successful
THE Court of Appeal has found the sentence of a teenager who attempted to murder a woman he met on a dating app was too lenient.
The DPP had argued a review of the sentence imposed on the teen boy after a five-year period was too early.
The now 17-year-old, who cannot be named because he is a minor, has been in custody since December 2017, when he lured Stephanie Ng to an isolated area at the seafront on Queen’s Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
After pleading guilty to a charge of attempted murder, the teenager was sentenced to 11 years in November 2019 with a review to commence on January 1, 2023. The State appealed on the grounds of “undue leniency”.
The teenager had met his 25-yearold victim on the Whisper social media app, where he had pretended to be 19. The boy was just 15 when he tried to kill Ms Ng during their first face-to-face meeting, after suggesting they take a selfie by the water’s edge.
There, he grabbed her from behind and choked her to unconsciousness before slashing her neck with a knife.
Gardai later found a book of drawings in his bedroom, containing a sketch of someone being cut up with a knife. The words “serial killer” had been written on another page.
Through tears, Ms Ng told the Central Criminal Court the boy had “destroyed” her life.
Anne-marie Lawlor SC informed the court the DPP wasn’t taking issue with the sentence, but said the review after five years did not reflect the gravity of the offence.
The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice George Birmingham, presiding with Justice Patrick Mccarthy and Justice Isobel Kennedy, delivered judgment and invited both parties to liaise ahead of resentencing.
Stephanie Ng