Man who stabbed mother’s partner in neck sentenced to 4½ years

A man who stabbed his mother’s partner in the neck during a drug-induced psychosis has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for causing him serious harm during an “unprovoked and extremely violent attack”.

Jonathan Reid (28) was originally charged with the attempted murder of Greg Shiels, his mother’s partner, at the family home at Newhall, Naas, Co Kildare on March 6th, 2020. When he pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Mr Shiels and to possession of cocaine and cannabis, the Director of Public Prosecutions agreed to drop the attempted murder charge.

The court heard that Reid has a history of mental health problems but when he attacked Mr Shiels, he was in a drug-induced psychosis.

The court was previously told that The Peter McVerry Trust has offered addiction counselling to Reid upon his release from prison.

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Sentencing Reid at the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said there was a very strong indication that “the main prompt” for this offence related to the accused’s drug induced psychosis.

He said a positive indicator was that Reid displayed a willingness to engage with his problem and had clear insight into it.

Before passing sentence, Mr Justice McDermott said the defendant suffered from serious mental health issues which were related to the consumption of drugs and that he was treated on a number of occasions for these psychotic episodes.

On the afternoon of March 6th, the judge said that Ms Reid was concerned about her son’s behaviour and called Mr Shiels.

Mr Shiels went to the Reid home in an effort to assist his partner with her son and whilst there observed the accused’s behaviour, he said.

Reid asked his mother to bring him to Dublin and she later left the house to get him cigarettes in an effort to appease and calm him. When she returned, Mr Shiels left to get them all a take away.

Whilst they were eating, the judge said Reid came into the kitchen, produced a knife and demanded his mother give him the keys to her car. Mr Shiels attempted to resolve the situation but the accused stuck him in the neck with a four inch blade. The victim fell to the floor and was very seriously injured, said the judge, adding that Reid then took the keys to his mother’s car and left the house.

An ambulance arrived and Mr Shiels was taken to Naas Hospital before being transferred to Tallaght Hospital for more specialised surgery. The wound was deep, said the judge, and there were injuries to the thyroid gland.

He said Reid had not demonstrated any animosity prior to this event and that the assault was unprovoked. Mr Shiels was trying to calm the situation down but Reid was getting increasingly out of control.

The judge said that drugs and a lack of sleep had contributed to Reid’s psychotic episode. Mr Shiels remains in a relationship with the accused’s mother and declined to submit a victim impact statement, he said.

The court heard Reid has no relevant previous convictions.

The judge also pointed out that the dominating feature of the case was Reid’s mental state at the time of the offence and how it was brought about by the consumption of drugs.

Prior to the incident, the accused said he had been taking cocaine every night, had not slept in three days and that the delusions developed during the period of his drug use.

The aggravating factors in the case, he said, included that it was an unprovoked and extremely violent attack and that it was a potentially life-threatening assault, which caused extreme blood loss. Reid had also left the scene without offering any assistance to Mr Shiels.

He said Reid had inflicted a very serious injury on the victim, that he was highly culpable and that he knew drugs had an effect on his rational thinking.

Mr Justice McDermott set the headline sentence at nine years.

In mitigation, the judge noted his guilty plea, his sincere remorse and that he had developed an insight into the wrongful use of drugs.

Reid was sentenced to six and a half in prison with the final two years suspended for a period of three years. It was backdated to when he went into custody in 2020.

Mr Justice McDermott said Reid must attend all his appointments with the probation services and engage with the local community based drug addiction services.