Man jailed for three years over ‘extremely nasty’ attack

A man who took part in the assault of another man who was slashed in the stomach after intervening in a street row has been jailed for three years.

John McDonagh (29) kicked and punched the man, who intervened in a row between him and his partner, Donna Dineen (23). Dineen then slashed the man in the stomach, leaving a “horrific” stomach wound before stealing his wallet, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Dineen, of Cedar House Hostel, Dublin, was jailed for four years last November for her part in the assault. She pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and further admitted to producing a knife and robbing the man’s wallet.

McDonagh, of Shangan Road, Ballymun, Dublin pleaded guilty to assaulting Saurjan Syergaz causing him harm at St Benedict’s Gardens, North Circular Road on May 8th, 2017. He has 86 previous convictions.

Sentencing McDonagh today, Judge Melanie Greally accepted he played no role in stabbing the victim, who has since returned to Mongolia. But she said he kicked and punched the victim in what was an “extremely nasty” attack.

“[Mr Syergaz] intervened for the most honourable of reasons for what he thought was a violent argument between the accused and his partner,” the judge said.

She took into account several aggravating factors, including McDonagh’s lengthy criminal history and his high risk of re-offending. She handed down a four-year sentence but suspended the final 12 months on a number of conditions.

At Dineen’s sentence hearing last year, Garda Conor Mackey told Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that Mr Syergaz left a trail of blood from Dorset Street up North Circular Road, ending in a pool of blood at St Benedict’s Garden from what gardaí described as his “horrific slash wound”.

Mr Syergaz was out socialising that night and as he walked home past the Mater Hospital, he heard a woman shouting. He said he saw a woman arguing with “a big guy” and walked over to help.

He said that both the man and woman hit, punched and kicked him before he fell to the ground. The woman then came back and inflicted a 25cm stab wound before taking his wallet.

Mr Syergaz said he did not know how many times he had been punched and kicked. He got up and started to walk home. A plain clothes garda asked him if he was OK and he discovered blood was dripping from his clothes.

Dineen admitted to slashing the man. McDonagh was not involved in this.

The pair were identified from CCTV and from an interaction with gardaí in the Mater hospital earlier that evening.

Mr Syergaz had been living in Ireland for 13 years prior to the assault. He did not give a victim impact report.

Gda Mackey agreed with John Berry BL, defending, that McDonagh had drink and drug difficulties.