Crime & Law

Canadian tourist dies after assault on Dublin’s O’Connell Street

Investigation into June 23rd attack on Neno Dolmajian (41), a single man from Montreal, expected to become a murder inquiry

Dublin's O’Connell Street. A Canadian tourist who was critically ill in hospital since he was assaulted on the street the weekend before last has died in hospital. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times

Conor Lally
Tue Jul 2 2024 - 19:19

Gardaí are expected to commence a murder investigation following the death of a Canadian tourist 10 days after he was assaulted on O’Connell Street in Dublin.

Neno Dolmajian (41), a single man from Montreal, was injured in an incident in the early hours of June 23rd and died in the Mater hospital on Tuesday. There had been concerns for his survival prospects since the attack as he had remained unresponsive while undergoing treatment. His father and sister had travelled from Canada to be with him.

A postmortem is due to be carried out and the results will inform the direction of the investigation. Sources expect it will be upgraded from an inquiry into an assault causing harm to a murder investigation. Four people have been arrested in connection with the incident and two men have been charged.

Madalin Ghiuzan, with an address at Summerhill Parade, Dublin 1, is accused of two counts of assault causing harm at Cathal Brugha Street and O’Connell Street Upper in the early hours of June 23rd last. The 23-year-old, originally from Romania, appeared before Dublin District Court on June 24th.

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Garda Sgt Seán McCarthy told Judge Paul Kelly that the accused made no reply to the charges and he objected to bail due to the seriousness of the alleged offences and flight risk concerns. Bail was denied by the judge.

Ionut Danca (24), a Romanian national with an address at Rathdown Square, North Circular Road, Dublin 7, was also charged with assault causing harm to Mr Dolmajian. He appeared at Dublin District Court last Friday, where Judge Bryan Smyth held the accused was a flight risk and denied bail.

Det Sgt Eoghan Byrne told Judge Smyth the accused was allegedly with a group at Cathal Brugha Street when the injured party approached and engaged in conversation. It was claimed a member of the group struck him and they moved on to O’Connell Street, where there was another interaction with the injured party. Some of the group “became hostile” and others tried to intervene, the court heard.

The judge was told that Mr Dolmajian walked towards the quays but was allegedly knocked on the ground and received a “running kick”. The detective described it as a full-force blow to his face. The court heard CCTV evidence had been obtained and it was alleged the accused’s actions caused the tourist’s injury. On becoming aware gardaí were looking for him, the court was told, the accused left the country for two days, though returned voluntarily.

In a statement on Tuesday, An Garda Síochána confirmed Mr Dolmajan had died and that it was continuing to investigate the assault.

Conor Lally

Conor Lally

Conor Lally is Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times

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