A 19-year-old man has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for his role in a vicious “organised, retaliatory” attack which left a teenage girl blind in one eye.
19-year-old Darragh Lyons, of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, Dublin 20, admitted punching Alanna Quinn Idris after he and several others set upon her and her friend.
The teenager, who was only 17 at the time, was brutally assaulted with the saddle of an electric scooter, close to the Civic Offices in Ballyfermot Road in Dublin, along with a male friend. She lost sight in one eye and needed numerous reconstructive surgeries to her right eye socket. She has lost vision permanently in one eye and is likely to require a prosthetic replacement, according to a medical report submitted to court.
Speaking after the sentence was handed down by Judge Martin Nolan this afternoon, Ms Idris Quinn hit out at what she perceived as the leniency of Lyons’ sentence, saying: “Being told today that what happened to me and the life that I’ve lost is only worth four and a half years, obviously isn’t the best thing to hear”.
She says she is still discovering all the ways in which “this awful attack” has caused damage and set her life on a different path.
Ms Quinn Idris was assaulted, along with friend Louis O’Sullivan, by a gang of four youths a short time after a short verbal dispute at a bus stop between the teenager’s friend, Louis O’Sullivan, and one of the accused.
Lyons was not the one who delivered the blow that meant the sixth form student lost her vision in one eye, but was held culpable by joint enterprise. While Lyons was not carrying a weapon, a number of the gang were armed with a hurl, the saddle of an e-scooter, and a knife – while Quinn Idris and her friend were unarmed.
Ms Idris, 18, took to a stand at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday to lay bare the traumatic impact of the attack which took place on 30 December 2021.
Alanna Quinn Idris, the Dublin teenager who was left blind in one eye after a vicious assault in December 2021, has told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court of how the life she knew and hoped for came crashing to an “abrupt end” when she was attacked by a gang of four male youths. In her victim impact statement, the brave teenager told the Court how her life has changed dramatically since the organised attack, leaving her “heartbroken” and lacking confidence.
‘Life as I knew it came to an abrupt end’
Speaking almost 14 months on from the attack, she said it has had an ongoing impact, leaving her confidence shattered, and feeling “embarrassed, mortified and heartbroken”.
The teenager told the court that the woman she was “supposed to be died that night” – adding that she now struggles to look in the mirror as her confidence has been impacted.
“Life as I knew it came to an abrupt end. I will never be the woman I was supposed to be – she died that night. Sometimes I wish I never woke up from when I was hit with that object,” she said.
“I feel embarrassed, mortified and heartbroken. I cannot look in the mirror without entirely dissociating and at times I’m overcome with flashbacks,” she said, adding that she did not look or feel like the same person.
“People used to tell me I should model – I didn’t like it, it made me feel uncomfortable. I never felt I was beautiful, but I wish I’d listened to them. I’ve never been the most confident girl, but I had a little, until my attackers took that away,” she said in a moving victim impact statement.
Ms Quinn Idris said her chances of living a normal life have been destroyed, as Lyons pleaded guilty on Wednesday to assault causing serious harm and violent disorder at Ballyfermot Road on the night of the attack. Lyons admitted assault causing harm to Mr O’Sullivan during the same attack.
After some words were exchanged between O’Sullivan and another accused, Lyons joined a group of men who had followed them to another friend’s house. The court heard how the teenager led the others into what was described as an “unprovoked attack”.
Lyons punched Alanna, making her fall against a wall. She got back on her feet, and while attempting to protect her friend, another one of the gang hit her with the saddle of his E-scooter, knocking her in the side of the face.
The blow left her unconscious and the damage resulted in her losing sight in one eye.
The horror attack which lasted about a minute, came to an end only when passing motorists intervened and all four attackers fled the scene, the court heard.
Disappointment at sentencing
Judge Martin Nolan, handing down the sentence, took into account Lyons’ age, stating: “Young people do stupid things”.
“If he was older, his level of culpability would be greater,” he said, as he sentenced him to four-and-a-half years.
Ms Quinn Idris, who has bravely documented her recovery, and returned to school three months on from the horror attack, said she was disappointed by the sentence.
Speaking outside court, she said: “Being told today that what happened to me and the life that I’ve lost is only worth four and a half years, obviously isn’t the best thing to hear,” she said.
“I’ve to be like this now for the rest of my life, and in four and a half years time he’ll be out and about.
“I don’t really feel like these consequences are really justified”.
🎥 Alanna Quinn Idris spoke to media after Darragh Lyons was jailed for 4.5 years. She’s very disappointed, especially because he’s likely to be out in just over 3 years.
At the hearing, she told the judge her life as she knew it came to an abrupt end when she was attacked. pic.twitter.com/szlG6YXEww
— Frank Greaney (@FrankGreaney) March 23, 2023