Man jailed for stabbing soldier seven times in pub

A father of three who stabbed a member of the Defence Forces seven times following an altercation in a pub has been jailed for two years.

Adam Dempsey (23) was not involved in the initial altercation, but later came up behind Ross Hayden who was trying to protect his girlfriend and stabbed him seven times.

Dempsey of Ardmore Grove, Artane, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm at Ardlea Inn, Artane, on June 16th, 2018. His 15 previous convictions are all for road traffic offences.

Det Garda Alan Roche told Sinéad McMullen, prosecuting, that on the night in question Mr Hayden was with his then girlfriend in the pub.

Det Garda Roche said a man from a group which included Dempsey repeatedly made comments as he passed by the group which included Mr Hayden. Mr Hayden’s girlfriend finally told this man to “cop on” and this led to another woman becoming involved and grabbing her hair.

Mr Hayden attempted to protect his girlfriend, which is when Dempsey came up behind him and stabbed him. Dempsey walked away, but returned 20 or 30 seconds later and stabbed Mr Hayden again.

The victim was stabbed a total of seven times, including five times in the back. He declined to make a victim-impact statement and is serving as a member of the Defence Forces in Kosovo.

Pieter Le Vert, defending, said his instructions were that his client used a broken bottle of Bulmers to inflict the stab wounds. The detective said CCTV footage shows Dempsey holding a "silver" and "shiny" object, but he cannot describe it better than that.

Det Garda Roche said the medical report documents the victim mentioning a screwdriver, but it has not been established what item was used to stab Mr Hayden.

Mr Le Vert said his client had had drug difficulties since he was aged 13. He said on this night his client was intoxicated with both alcohol and cocaine.

Counsel said his client had three children but his relationship with his partner had come to an end as a consequence of this offence. He said his client had €5,000 in court as an offer of remorse to the victim.

Judge Melanie Greally sentenced Dempsey to three years' imprisonment. She suspended the final 12 months on strict conditions, including that he hand over the €5,000 in compensation to Mr Hayden or to a charity of the victim's choice.