A 25-year-old man has been jailed for three years for biting part of a man’s ear off in a brawl on the Luas four years ago.
CCTV of the incident, which was widely publicised at the time, was shown to court. The brawl took place on a Luas between the George’s Dock and Busáras stops. The tram had to be taken out of service “because of the nature of the incident.”
Brandon Cunningham of Amien Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault and violent disorder on February 15th, 2021.
The injured party boarded the tram and punched Cunningham, who was a passenger, and a brawl ensued which was witnessed by bystanders who had to get out of the way.
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Garda Conn Maguire gave evidence that Cunningham admitted to having an altercation on the Luas but said he thought he would be stabbed.
Garda Maguire told the court the incident arose out of a dispute between brothers of both the injured party and Cunningham.
Judge Martin Nolan described it a “savage thing to do” and jailed Cunningham for three years and backdated it for time spent in custody.
Carol Doherty BL, defending, said Cunningham had very unfortunate beginnings in the world. She said he was “a child of addiction” and a “heroin baby” who had to detox after birth.
Ms Doherty said her client had two young children – one of whom is autistic. She said her client’s brother is serving a sentence in Wheatfield Prison and he would like to join him there to have “some sense of family while in custody”.
Ms Doherty said it was “a heinous incident” and there was “no getting away from that” but said her client had expressed remorse.
Judge Nolan said Cunningham didn’t start the attack but biting part of a man’s ear off was a “pretty savage thing to do” before jailing him for three years.
Anthony McDonald (26) of Cromcastle Court, Cromcastle Park, Dublin 5, was also sentenced for violent disorder. He was involved in the incident on the Luas, the court heard.
Mr Derek Cooney BL for McDonald said his client was not the one who inflicted the injury but could not get off the Luas until it stopped. He said his client had “come to court with a large suitcase”.
Judge Nolan said his culpability was the lesser of the two but McDonald participated in the incident and jailed him for 18 months.
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