A Congalse man, who came to Ireland with his family in 2005, has avoided jail after he punched a Polish child in the face on a northbound DART service last summer.
Bakuani Diasivi (25) of Carry Rock Crescent, Balbriggan, Dublin, pleaded guilty to counts of assault and affray in relation to the incident, which took place “in broad daylight” on the 2nd of July between Sydney Parade and Lansdown Road stations.
Diasivi also pleaded guilty to a charge related to his involvement in the fatal stabbing of Quham Babatunde, an asylum seeker, who was facing rape charges in Italy, who died on Anne Street, Dublin, last February.
The court heard that a Polish mother and her daughter and son (11) were travelling on the DART from Bray when the accused and his partner and co-accused, who has taken a trial date, got on board at Booterstown station and sat beside them.
At some point, the accused asked the child, “What the fuck are you looking at?” and “What are you laughing at?” At which point the boy’s older sister said, “Is there something wrong with you?”, telling the accused, “He’s only 11.”
After this, the co-accused, who the court heard was pregnant at the time, and the boy’s older sister began to “remonstrate” with each filming the other on their phones.
When one of the women asked the other if she wanted “to fight about this”, it was agreed that they would get off the train at Tara Street, where there would be security.
The court heard that the co-accused “slapped the phone out of her hand, “went for her, and “threw a punch at her face” before Diasivi, who was on bail for a drugs matter at the time, got involved and “threw a punch” at the side of the boy’s face, which connected, causing redness.
After this, other passengers intervened, and the altercation ended when the train reached Lansdown Road.
The boy’s older sister was left with scratches on her face, the court heard.
When he was arrested, Diasivi, who came to Ireland as an asylum seeker, made admissions but claimed that he had “believed” that the boy was going to strike her girlfriend.
He has 24 previous convictions, including 13 for road traffic offences, nine for breaches of the Public Order Act, 1 for Section 11 of the Firearms Act, and one for Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, for which he received a suspended sentence.
The court heard that the commission of the DART offences triggered a portion of the suspended sentence, with Diasivi referred back to Balbriggan District Court on the 5th of March next on a Section 99 reactivation matter.
Defending counsel, Oisín Clarke BL, argued that of the two women involved in the incident, “each giving as good as they got” and that the altercation was “primarily between the two females”.
He argued that his client “only got involved” because he was worried about his partner, and claimed that he had just tried to “separate” everyone and was being “overprotective”.
The court heard that the accused is a “talented musician” and is hopeful of a four-year recording contract with music manager Martin Coleman.
Judge Orla Crowe commented, “It’s a despicable offence to strike a child, noting that this had taken place “in the middle of the day in a public train.”
“This is a serious matter, and hard to understand how a situation like that could break out on a dart, “but it did, and he got involved”, she said.
The court noted that the maximum sentence for affray is five years, before indicating that the court was inclined to give Diasivi “one final chance”.
Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of two years before imposing an actual sentence of 18 months, which was suspended in full on condition of good behaviour for a period of 18 months. The charge of assault was taken into consideration (no additional sentence was imposed).