Man hit and kicked autistic young man
JAILED FOR TWO YEARS FOR ATTACK NEAR BRAY DART STATION LAST YEAR
A MAN who punched an autistic man and kicked him in the face has been sentenced to three years in jail, with the final year suspended.
Jason O’Sullivan (31), 4 Connolly Square, Bray, appeared in Wicklow Circuit Court yesterday (Tuesday) for sentencing after admitting the offence at an earlier court sitting.
The court heard that the attack occurred at Bray Dart Station on April 4, 2016. The injured party was aged 27 at the time, and is a vulnerable young man with a number of conditions, including aspergers, State Prosecutor James Kelly told Judge Michael O’Shea.
His parents decided that he would be better not to attend the sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
On the day of the attack, the young man had travelled to Dublin for work in the canteen of an office building. Part of his regular routine was to travel to Dublin, then return from Tara Street Station to Bray.
Detective Gary Collins said that it was around 6 p.m. when the victim emerged from the train station. He had stopped to help a wheelchair user off the train so was a little behind most of the other passengers. ‘As a result of that charitable act on his part he was somewhat isolated,’ said Mr Kelly.
Jason O’Sullivan and a number of young females followed the young man and O’Sullivan started tugging at a teddy bear attached to his backpack. O’Sullivan struck the young man a number of times in the face and, when he fell to the ground, kicked him once, strongly, in the face.
One of the females, who was not before the court, at this point took a number of items, including a phone which the man had borrowed from a friend. The property was ultimately recovered.
CCTV footage of the attack was shown to the court during the sentencing hearing. One of the females was seen on the video trying to restrain O’Sullivan while he attacked the injured party.
Garda Collins said that he has met the injured party a number of times since the attack.
‘In the initial stages things were very problematic. He was reluctant to use public transport on his own. His independence was removed from him. He would have had a routine. For a period of time he stopped taking the Dart and took the 145, and he was being accompanied,’ said the garda.
The young man’s injuries included bruising and cuts around the eyes, a broken nose and bruised hands.
O’Sullivan was arrested on April 20 and interviewed. He made some limited admissions before being shown CCTV.
When shown the footage, he said: ‘Yeah, that’s me. I can’t remember, but it is me. I’m ashamed and embarrassed and apologise for doing that. You know yourself garda, I’d never do anything like that.’
The court heard that O’Sullivan and the others had been put out of a pub in Dun Laoghaire before returning to Bray. They had drink taken.
The court heard that O’Sullivan had 20 previous convictions. Garda Collins said that he has known O’Sullivan for around 10 years. He is a chronic drug addict, mostly heroin, and had a somewhat dysfunctional upbringing.
The court heard that O’Sullivan was being charged with robbery as well as assault, because the robbery was part of a joint enterprise.
The mother of the injured party said that her son was connected to various training programmes, that he had a job coach and went to work on Monday and Friday afternoons.
She said that his work was overseen and went very well, providing him with a routine.
‘He likes company,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t have an awful lot of friends. The people in the office are very kind to him. He is well able to make the tea, put out a trolley or move things around for meetings.’
She said that in the aftermath of the attack he was stuck at home. He would stay in his bedroom and come down for meals. A family member would have to go out with him if he went out at all.
He didn’t go on the Dart for quite some time and even now does not feel secure.
‘He never really became confident again,’ said his mother. ‘He can be quite fearful if he sees a gang or group. He was just very traumatised by it.’
Judge Michael O’Shea described the injured party as ‘a wonderful young person’. He said that he was in the category of having special needs, yet had been living an independent life. He could get the Dart to Tara Street and be able to make his way back to Bray Station.
‘It’s clear from the CCTV footage that he was cornered,’ said the judge. ‘He was in an extremely vulnerable position. He was a person who could do little or nothing to get away from persons hunting him down and cornering him on a laneway.’
Judge O’Shea said that events had taken a sinister turn.
‘It was senseless what happened to this young man. For no reason whatsoever, he was attacked. He was in a helpless and hopeless situation.’
He said that the young man was entitled to believe he could walk safely from the Dart station and make his way home, without being subjected to a vicious and violent assault.
Judge O’Shea handed down sentences of three years each for the assault and the robbery, to run concurrently, with the final year suspended.
He said that the guilty plea had been of benefit to the injured party, sparing him the trauma and anxiety of a trial.