Man who attacked sisters with broken bottle jailed

A man who attacked teenage twin sisters with a broken bottle after they rejected his advances towards them has been jailed for four years and two months.

Shando Alfa, 27, was captured on phone footage by one of the girls walking along Dame Street, in Dublin city centre, linking arms with her sister.

The girls continually rejected him and told him to leave them alone before a man passing by intervened to assist them.

Garda Colm Carroll said it was at this point that Alfa produced a broken bottle and attacked all three of them, leaving each of the victims with deep cuts that needed stitches and staples.

Shando Alfa of no fixed abode, came forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of assault causing harm on Saturday 4 April this year.

Sentencing Alfa today, Judge Elma Sheahan imposed a sentence of three years and nine months on each of the assault charges.

She said to "properly reflect the seriousness of the offending" she would make two of the sentences consecutive to each other leading to a total sentence of seven years and six months.

Judge Sheahan then reduced the sentence again, resulting in a prison term of four years and two months.

Garda Colm Carroll played CCTV footage from the night, the footage from one of the girl's phones and audio recording of the ultimate assault.

He told Tessa White, prosecuting, that the man has not prepared a victim impact statement.

The young women had prepared victim impact statements. They were handed into the judge and not read out.

None of the victims were present in court for the sentence.

Gda Carroll said Alfa had 20 previous convictions, which were all dealt with in the District Court and included offences for possession of weapons, handling stolen property and criminal damage.

He was remanded in custody following his arrest when he was identified after gardaí viewed CCTV footage of the incident.

Ms White told Judge Sheahan that there had been online commentary on social media in relation to the attack which has impacted the sisters but she said the impact of this commentary on them could not be attributed to Alfa.

Photographs of the victims’ injuries and the weapon used by Alfa during the attack were handed into court.

Gda Carroll agreed with Oisin Clarke, defending, that the man who stepped in to assist the girls, can be heard on the audio saying to Alfa that he would "knock him the f**k out if he doesn’t back away".

He accepted that it was when this man pushed Alfa away that the assault started.

Gda Carroll said the teenagers can also be heard telling Alfa to "f**k off" in the audio clip.

He accepted that prior to this Alfa had not been aggressive towards the girls, but Gda Carroll said the teenagers had told gardaí that he had been getting "more aggressive towards them" prior to the man stepping in.

It was accepted that Alfa "was not getting the picture" that they didn’t want his advances.

Gda Carroll accepted again that there had been "no issue" in terms of aggressive behaviour with Alfa towards the teenagers before the attack but said that the teenagers were "uncomfortable".

He accepted that Alfa was clearly intoxicated at the time.

Gda Carroll did not accept that "cultural differences, language difficulties and intoxication" meant that it was not clear to Alfa what was going on.

"The girls were fairly clear to him to leave them alone," Gda Carroll said but accepted that Alfa was intoxicated.

He accepted that Alfa was homeless and a drug addict at the time.

Gda Carroll also further accepted that Alfa had to leave his native Somalia after an attack on him.

Mr Clarke told Judge Sheahan that a forensic psychological report before the court indicated that Alfa may have emerging psychiatric conditions but he has not yet been diagnosed.

He acknowledged that it is not clear whether this is related to his client’s abuse of alcohol and crack cocaine or whether Alfa’s condition has been exacerbated by the use of such intoxicants.

Mr Clarke asked the court to accept that that his client’s early plea meant the victims were aware that there was never going to be a trial.

"Clearly this is a man that was in very bad shape at the time. He had been living in a tent and had been attacked simply because of where he had been living and where he had come from," Mr Clarke said.

He said Alfa had taken a cocktail of alcohol and crack cocaine on the night along with some street drugs.

Counsel said Alfa accepts that he made the sisters uncomfortable and it "could not have been clearer that they had no interest in him" but asked the court to accept that he had not got physical until the man got involved.

He acknowledged that this man was "doing nothing but coming to the aid of people he thought were in difficulty" but he added "the push that he gave him was the spark to the entire incident".

"His (Alfa’s) reaction to it was illegal and that is why he has pleaded guilty, he went far beyond anything he could have been doing to defend himself," Mr Clarke said.

He said Alfa is in 23-hour lock-up in prison because he had been threatened numerous times following his remand in custody due to the publicity that surrounded the case following his first appearance in the District Court.

In sentencing Alfa, Judge Sheahan said she had taken into account that the assaults represented a "significant escalation" in Alfa’s offending. She noted that he had used a broken bottle and had caused both physical and psychological injuries to all three victims.

Judge Sheahan took into account that Alfa had "endured torture" in his native Somalia and has lived in various countries throughout Europe "without accommodation" including a psychiatric hospital in Germany after Alfa attempted suicide.

She accepted that Alfa has expressed remorse and had entered very early pleas of guilty to the offences.

Judge Sheahan noted from the victim impact statements that the sisters had suffered scarring and had psychological issues since including anxiety, sleeplessness, fear and loss of trust.

"They were out enjoying a night out, minding their own business, and they now have to endure a level of psychological injury in their young lives," Judge Sheahan said.