Dublin teen who attacked Chinese man in front of his daughter spared jail
December 15, 2023
A 16-year-old boy in Dublin, Ireland, has been spared a custodial sentence after being found guilty of brutally assaulting a Chinese man in front of his daughter.
The court’s decision: The unidentified teen received a four-month deferred sentence in June, and more recently, the Dublin Children’s Court received a positive updated pre-sentence report, resulting in the boy to only be placed on supervised probation for 12 months.
About the attack: The teen was previously found guilty of the assault that took place in the city center’s north side on December 6, 2021. According to local reports, the Chinese father was beaten and racially abused by a group of teens and was forced to apologize to a boy he had confronted after the child squirted him with water.
CCTV footage captured the 16-year-old boy repeatedly punching the man while his daughter stood nearby, with other teens later joining in the assault and dragging the adult along railings. The victim said he tried to walk away to protect his daughter, but the teens allegedly forced him to apologize, threatening not to let him go otherwise.
The teen’s claims: The accused teen later admitted to hitting the father but claimed self-defense, stating he was protecting his little brother, who had used a water gun to spray the man. He claimed that the man had put his hand on his brother and started to reprimand him, so he went to defend him. The defense also argued that the teen had an “instinctive reaction” to defend his brother.
Found guilty: However, the judge ruled the teen acted aggressively, not defensively. The same boy was also found guilty of participating in a separate mugging incident. Despite his crimes, the boy was spared jail time. The court emphasized the need for the 16-year-old to stay out of trouble, engage with the Probation Service and participate in education or training to address his offending behavior.
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