Courts

Man jailed over knife attack on woman in Dublin street

Victim said she did not know Noel Colvin (45) and assault was entirely unprovoked

Judge Martin Nolan said this was a 'serious assault' which had left the victim with 'considerable scarring'

Eimear Dodd
Thu Oct 13 2022 - 15:56

A man who carried out a unprovoked assault on a woman, leaving her with facial scars has been given a three-year prison sentence.

Noel Colvin (45) of no fixed abode pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and production of an article at Harbour Court, Dublin city centre on August 14th, 2020. He has a number of previous convictions including one for assault causing harm.

Judge Martin Nolan said this was a “serious assault” that had left the victim with “considerable scarring”. Handing down a three-year prison term, he said Colvin deserved a “substantial” sentence for attacking the victim, Natasha Smith.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Thursday that on the day in question, the victim, who is homeless, was standing on a laneway off Lower Abbey Street — known as Harbour Court — when Colvin approached her and tried to strike up a conversation.

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Ms Smith asked the man to step back, but Colvin offered her a drink of cider.

He proceeded to sit down on the curb and continued his attempts to engage her in conversation. Ms Smith repeated her requests for the accused to step back because of Covid.

Colvin said “f**k corona”, then pulled out a blade and cut the victim on her face.

The investigating gardaí told Diana Stuart , prosecuting, that the victim was taken to hospital and received 20 stitches to her face. She has been left with scars on her face.

Ms Smith told gardaí in a statement that she did not know her assailant and that the attack was entirely unprovoked. She said finds it difficult to be in Dublin city centre following the assault, and suffers flashbacks.

No victim impact statement was submitted.

The investigating garda told Luigi Rea, defending, that Colvin had been homeless at the time of this incident and suffered from an alcohol addiction.

Mr Rea said his client apologised and a letter of apology was submitted to the court. Colvin is now in temporary accommodation and working with the Peter McVerry Trust to get own-door accommodation.

His client has been seeing an addiction counsellor since 2016, but has only begun to “get a grip” on his addiction in the last year. A letter of apology from Colvin was also submitted to the court.

Mr Rea said his client was suffering with an alcohol addiction at the time of the offence, but has taken steps to change his life. He is also dealing with medical issues.

While the probation report states that his client is at high risk of reoffending, Mr Rea said Colvin has made efforts to deal with issues raised by the Probation Service.

He said his client worked in construction, but spent his wages on alcohol. Counsel said Colvin had been a “terrible blight on society, going around making a nuisance of himself or worse” as in this incident, but his client was trying to transform his life.

After considering the mitigation, Judge Nolan imposed a three-year prison sentence on the count of assault causing harm, with the count of production of an article taken into consideration.

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