Teenage boy who pushed Chinese woman into canal avoids custodial sentence

A teenage boy convicted of attacking a Chinese woman who was pushed into a canal in Dublin after challenging youths about racial taunts has avoided a custodial sentence.

Video footage went viral on social media site TikTok of the woman remonstrating with boys who laughed as she was suddenly knocked into the Royal Canal in Dublin 15, on the evening of August 14th, 2020.

Two boys, now 16, were charged with assaulting Xeudan “Shelly” Xiong, 50, at the 12th Lock, Castleknock. They were aged 14 at the time.

They were found guilty by Judge Paul Kelly at a Dublin Children’s Court hearing in September. The woman later told the court she forgave her attackers.

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The judge commissioned probation reports on the pair, neither of whom had any prior criminal convictions.

On Tuesday one of the attackers had his sentencing adjourned until January for an updated pre-sentence report.

The court imposed a 12-month probation bond on his co-defendant. That boy must stay out of trouble, remain supervised by the Probation Service and accept assistance from community-based agencies.

Breaching the terms could result in his case being reopened and the risk of a custodial sentence.

During the trial, Ms Xiong gave evidence, and the judge examined video footage from a mobile phone used to film the attack and a local shop’s CCTV, which helped gardaí identify suspects.

Ms Xiong recalled going for a stroll along the canal, looking at fish and water lilies.

She stopped at a little pier at the 15th lock between Castleknock and Ashtown. “All of a sudden”, a bicycle rushed toward her and stopped one or two feet away. Ms Xiong said she jumped in fright, and two or three boys laughed.

“I screamed, and they mocked me,” she said, adding that they carried on in the Castleknock direction. She picked up a branch because she was “so frightened” and did not feel safe.

Another group approached her, and one boy “looked me in the eye” and said, “corona, coronavirus”. Ms Xiong recalled feeling sad, but she continued until meeting a third group of boys. One of them was on a bike and continually circled her, and she remembered saying “leave me alone”.

Minutes later, she heard them shouting “Chinese noodles, fried noodles, a few times”.

Ms Xiong turned and went after them to tell them it was racial discrimination. She also took out her phone to record them, but they moved on.

Another group of boys surrounded her, and one asked, “what did you do to my friends?”

She was pushed suddenly. “Next thing I remember, I was in the water,” she said, adding, “the only thing I can remember is being in the water”.

She remembered pulling herself out, and passersby came to her help and went with her to the Blanchardstown Garda station. She later found out the boys had uploaded the video to TikTok. The boys, who came to the proceedings with family members, cannot be named because they are minors.