A young Dublin man who directed a taxi driver to remote roads outside the city and punched him twice in the face has received a four year sentence with the final year suspended.
Stephen Dolan (20) of Shangan Crescent, Ballymun pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting taxi driver Mohammed Maeem at North Road, Coolquay, Finglas on September 5, 2014.
He also pleaded guilty to robbing €90 from The Snuffbox newsagents in Finglas on September 4, 2014.
He has 45 previous convictions, including attempted robbery.
The court heard Dolan wouldn’t give Mr Maeem a destination address as he made him drive around small country roads outside Finglas in the early hours of the morning.
Garda Emma Kelly said Dolan eventually told Mr Maeem to pull the car over and ran around to the driver’s side to punch his victim in the face.
Mr Maeem, who was bleeding from a deep gash on his forehead, sprayed deodorant at his attacker.
Dolan punched Mr Maeem again in the mouth, before the taxi man managed to reverse away at speed.
Gda Kelly told Maurice Coffey BL, prosecuting, that Mr Maeem suffered a swollen lip and bruising and had to get stitches to his forehead.
She said Mr Maeem has since reduced his working week and missed out on a month’s earnings immediately after the attack.
Dolan admitted to gardai that he had taken prescription drugs.
Gda Kelly agreed with Muiriosa Nichola Regan BL, defending, that a doctor had attended at the station once her client had been arrested.
Garda Pat Priestley told the court that Dolan went into the Finglas newsagents the previous day and told staff he had a shotgun down his trousers, before he made off with €90.
The garda agreed with Ms Regan that one staff member later described the robber as “an absolute idiot” when he fell off a bicycle while making his escape.
Ms Regan submitted to Judge Martin Nolan that the newsagent robbery had been unplanned and opportunistic.
She said her client was “apologetic” for the assault and that he suffered from ADHD.
Judge Nolan acknowledged Dolan’s dysfunctional background and attempts to reform himself but described the assault as “sinister”.
