Courts

Construction worker charged with assault on Canadian tourist who remains unresponsive in hospital

Ionut Danca (24) accused of delivering kick to head of man on Dublin’s O’Connell Street last Sunday

The alleged assault took place on Dublin's O'Connell Street. Photograph: Alan Betson

Tom Tuite
Fri Jun 28 2024 - 19:31

A construction worker has been accused of delivering a “full force” running kick to the head of a Canadian tourist who remains “unresponsive” after being injured on Dublin’s O’Connell Street on Sunday.

Ionut Danca (24) a Romanian national with an address at Rathdown Square, North Circular Road, Dublin 7, is charged with assault causing harm to Neno Dolmajian in the early hours of June 23rd.

He appeared at Dublin District Court on Friday, where Judge Bryan Smyth held Mr Danca was a flight risk and denied bail.

Mr Dolmajian, who is from Montreal, single and in his 40s, has not regained consciousness and was brought to the Mater Hospital “and is unresponsive” in the intensive care unit.

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His father and sister travelled from Canada and watched Mr Danca’s bail hearing from the public gallery.

Detective Sergeant Eoghan Byrne told Judge Smyth that 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 “became hostile”, while others tried to intervene.

The tourist walked toward 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.

CCTV evidence had been obtained, and it was alleged the accused’s action caused the tourist’s injury.

The court also heard that, on becoming aware gardaí were looking for him, the accused left the country for two days. Initially, he booked a flight from Dublin to Bucharest, and officers waited for him at the airport. He went to Belfast instead and flew to Edinburgh and Naples.

According to Detective Sergeant Byrne, gardaí went to his Dublin address, but it was “cleaned out,” and there were 10 bags of his belongings. It was claimed that “his girlfriend indicated it was their intention to leave Ireland permanently and have their stuff shipped to Romania”.

The detective sergeant believed Mr Danca had no ties to this jurisdiction and could face additional charges.

He agreed with defence solicitor Evan Moore that the accused had no prior criminal convictions and lived and worked in Ireland for six years, and that he came back voluntarily following discussions.

However, he said that happened after two days of avoiding calls, texts, and emails, and he was aware of the efforts to locate him.

Detective Sergeant Byrne feared that, if released on bail, the accused would not turn up to court again because he was aware of the severity of the tourist’s condition, but this may not have been the case when he first returned.

Judge Smyth remanded Mr Danca, who has yet to indicate a plea, in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on July 5th for directions from the DPP.

He is the second man to come before the courts in connection with the incident.

On Monday, Madalin Ghiuzan (23), originally from Romania but with an address at Summerhill Parade, Dublin 1, was charged with assault causing harm to the tourist and was refused bail.

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