Three men sentenced for their role in attack on man in Dublin city centre

Sonya McLean

Three lifelong friends have been sentenced for their role in an attack on a man in a Dublin city centre shop because they believed he had a previous interaction with one of their younger sisters.

Jordan Dean Roddick (28) of Hill Street, Dublin 2, Shane Kinsella (27) of Canon Lillis Avenue, Seville Place, Dublin 2 and Ross Law (29) of Alfie Byrne House, Grenville Street, Rotunda, Dublin 1, each pleaded guilty to assaulting the man, causing him harm in Spar on Gardiner Street on May 18th 2024.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Kinsella returned to the shop a second time to assault the man again, while Roddick was involved in a separate attack on a man three weeks later.

Roddick also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to this man on June 5th, 2024. He had not been charged with the first attack at this point, so he was not on bail.

Garda Brian O’Sullivan told Aideen Collard BL prosecuting that the first victim was treated for broken teeth, a cut to the side of his head, and a concussion.

He had not prepared a victim impact statement.

Prior incident

Gda O’Sullivan agreed that Law told gardaí that his younger sister had identified the victim as someone she had “a prior incident with” but he said this incident has never been reported to the gardaí.

He agreed with Cathal McGreal BL, defending Law, that he had claimed that his sister told him that this man had earlier “grabbed her arm and she was afraid”.

Counsel said a complaint had been made to the gardaí, but Gda O’Sullivan said he had never been made aware of any such complaint, although he acknowledged that he had been on long-term sick leave.

Mr McGreal said that his client said his sister identified the victim as the man who had grabbed her.

Law said his sister was “100 percent it was him” and said he could see fear in his sister’s eyes – so “I reacted”, he said.

Gda O’Sullivan told Ms Collard the victim was 28 years old at the time and a Romanian national who had been working as a carpenter.

He had been out socialising and went to Spar to get a drink. He was walking around the shop when Law approached him and took hold of his wrist before he punched him twice to the head, causing the victim to fall.

Law then leaves the shop, while the victim appears to be unconscious on the ground.

Gda O’Sullivan said staff and security helped the man when Kinsella walked into the shop and began to verbally abuse him, while recording him on his phone.

He then kicks and punches the man while he is on the ground.

The garda said Kinsella appears to be making phone calls as he leaves the shop.

Kinsella then returns with Roddick, and they both walk towards the victim, who is unsteady on his feet.

Kinsella punches and kicks him, while Roddick punches him to the face causing him to fall back. Kinsella punches him again, and the victim appears to be unconscious a second time.

Gda O’Sullivan said an ambulance is called for the victim, and the three friends are later identified through CCTV footage of the assault. That CCTV footage was played to the court.

Second attack

In the second attack, the victim, an Algerian national, had a previous verbal altercation with two men, who are not before the court.

The victim’s friend led him away before Roddick, another man, and the two men from the earlier altercation caught up with them.

The victim starts to run away, but he is knocked over by one of the men, who is on a scooter.

While he is on the ground, Roddick approaches him and punches him up to ten times before he kicks him and stamps on his head.

The victim was later treated in hospital for fractured eye sockets and cheekbones. He also lost four teeth in the attack. This man did not prepare a victim impact statement.

The court heard that Kinsella, Law and Roddick are lifelong friends. All three men had apologised through their various counsel for their roles in the attack.

Counsel submitted that the attack was out of character for the men, as none of them had previous convictions for violent offences.

Law has two previous convictions for drug offences from the District Court, Kinsella has three previous convictions for road traffic and drug offences, while Roddick has nine previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted that Law had received a report from his sister that there had been some interaction with the man but said that gave him “no right to attack him”.

“He had certain information that caused him to act, but he had no entitlement to attack,” Judge Nolan said after he said it was clear from CCTV footage of the attack that the victim was drunk and therefore vulnerable.

He said the man had been left with quite serious injuries.

Judge Nolan acknowledged that Law had previous convictions for minor offences and was hard-working man. He accepted his plea of guilty and said he felt it would be inappropriate to imprison him at this particular time before he imposed a 20-month suspended sentence.

The sentence was suspended on condition that he had paid over €2,000 to the injured party within one year.

Sentencing Kinsella, Judge Nolan said that he had assaulted the man twice but again acknowledged his lack of serious previous convictions and plea of guilty.

He imposed a sentence of two and a half years, which was suspended in full on condition that he also pay the victim €2,000 within a year.

Judge Nolan said Roddick was far more culpable in the second attack, noting that he kicked the man and stamped on his head while he was prone on the ground.

He described this second assault as “a reasonably serious attack”.

He acknowledged Roddick did not have relevant previous convictions and had “plenty of people who say good things about him”, referring to various testimonials that had been handed into court.

“It is somewhat worrying that in short succession, he got involved in two assaults,” Judge Nolan said before he imposed a term of one year for the first attack and a concurrent prison term of three years for the second assault, resulting in a three-year jail term for Roddick.