Man cut off part of victim’s ear during serious Dublin assault

A “ringleader” in a serious assault during which a man had part of his ear cut off has been sentenced to 8½ years in prison.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Jack Quirke (24), of St Teresa’s Gardens, Donore Avenue, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to another person on August 1st, 2018. He has 27 previous convictions for offences including assault, theft, violent disorder and violent behaviour in a garda station.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Martin Nolan said the aggravating factors in the case included the serious level of violence, the fact Quirke was a guest in the injured man’s house, the serious and extensive level of injuries, and the fact the injured party was left with a disfigurement.

“I am aware that the accused was only 19-years-old when he committed this offence, and he took a trial date which he did not appear for and was arrested on foot of a bench warrant and later pleaded guilty,” he said.

Olivia Laing: ‘People find it hard to grasp things like racism, or misogyny, because they genuinely can’t see they exist’

---

I spent my maternity leave in a chemo chair. Then I got a letter telling me to go back to work

---

Bryan Dobson: ‘Retirement could be a terrible shock to the system – or not, who knows!’

---

Brianna Parkins: Here’s some of the best life advice I’ve ever received

---

The judge said Quirke carried out a Section 4 assault, for which the maximum sentence is life in prison. He placed the offence in the mid to high range and set a headline sentence of 11 to 12 years.

Remorse shown

He said that one of the co-accused was sentenced to 7½ years for his part in the assault, but he described Quirke as one of the “ringleaders”. Mitigating factors included Quirke’s guilty plea and the remorse shown, he said, as he sentenced the defendant to 8½ years in prison, backdated from when he went into custody over the matter.

Det Garda Sarah Keogh told Sinéad McMullen BL, prosecuting, that the injured party was at home asleep in the early hours of August 1st, 2018 when he got a call from his daughter, who asked if she could stay the night in his house and bring some friends.

Det Garda Keogh said a group of males and females arrived and the four males were unknown to the injured party. They had bottles of vodka with them and continued drinking. One of the four men fell asleep and Quirke decided to shave his eyebrow off. When the man woke, a fight began and Quirke said he could shave his head “to get even”.

The court heard that Quirke told the rest of the men that if they wanted to be in his gang, they all needed to “shave their heads”. The injured party then asked everyone to leave. His daughter and the other females left, but the four men refused to.

Quirke and another man held one of their friends down on the injured party’s bed and tried to shave his head. The man was cut and bleeding, and the injured party told them to leave him alone.

Vodka bottle

It was at this point that Quirke and the others turned on the injured party. Quirke hit the victim in the face with a vodka bottle and split his lip. He then ordered the others to join, and one hit the injured party on the head with a vodka bottle.

The court heard that Quirke told one of the men to get a scissors and said he would show them “how to cut someone up”. The injured party was then held in a sitting position, and Quirke began to cut his ear off with the scissors. The injured party was still being hit while this was happening. Quirke also ordered the others to take part in the ear cutting. A second pair of scissors was then produced, and the injured party was stabbed in the body by the group.

The court heard that the man was then brought to the bathroom and forced into the bath, which was then filled with water. Quirke forced a phone charger into the injured party’s mouth and forced the cord down his throat. He was also struck with the toilet cistern.

The court heard that the man was stabbed with a broken vodka bottle and scissors in the head, legs and chest. During this assault, the injured party passed in and out of consciousness.

The injured party managed to leave his house at about 9am. A neighbour was sitting outside her house and saw the bloodied man collapsing on the ground. The woman called an ambulance. A second neighbour came to help and saw the man was missing part of his ear and said “it looked like he was dying”.

DNA match

Quirke was not present when the three other co-accused went to a nearby hostel, where a caretaker found part of an ear. Gardaí were then called and a search warrant was issued for Quirke’s home. He was arrested and detained and a DNA sample was taken, which matched DNA found on scissors at the scene.

Quirke told gardaí he had been at the house and had hit the accused but left to go to a friend’s house. He said the injured party was missing his ear when he returned.

A victim impact statement was handed into the court but not read aloud.

Det Garda Keogh agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that the guilty plea was late but was of value, especially to the injured party who did not have to give evidence.

Mr Clarke said his client had been in a car accident a few months after the assault and suffered serious injuries. Counsel said his client has a history of self-harm and mental health issues. He said his client now has a better understanding of the harm he has caused and is remorseful and sorry for what he did.