A Dublin man with a previous conviction for manslaughter who slashed a passer-by from his mouth to his ear lobe with a knife has been jailed for four years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Michael Dunne's victim received 33 stitches and has permanent scars as a result of what gardai described as "a horrific attack" with a craft knife.
Dunne told gardai he was feeling depressed at the time and wanted to hurt someone. He ran from his home to avoid injuring his family and attacked the first person he saw. He said he had been drinking heavily at the time and apologised for the attack.
Garda Brian Jacob said Dunne had stabbed a youth to death when he was 15 and was jailed for five years for manslaughter.
Dunne (25), of Sean O'Casey Avenue, Dublin, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm at Emmet Street on August 25th, 1998. Garda Jacob said Dunne tapped a 33-year-old Raheny man on the shoulder and then slashed him on the face.
The victim chased Dunne to Sean O'Casey Avenue and saw him run into a house. A passer-by refused to call gardai, and the victim had to run to Fitzgibbon Street station to raise the alert.
Garda Jacob said that as the victim was later being placed in an ambulance he lunged at Dunne who was being taken into the Garda station.
Judge Elizabeth Dunne said the seriousness of the attack could not be underestimated, and the crime was particularly worrying as there was no apparent motive.
She added that if Dunne had not pleaded guilty, he would have received a jail term of between six and seven years.