Machete attacker gets three years for assault on rival gang member

A criminal who attacked a member of a rival drugs gang with a machete near Finglas Garda station in “broad daylight” has been given a three-year sentence.

Martin Cunningham (27) has been in prison since April 2019 after his bail was revoked by the High Court and has therefore served more than three years.

Cunningham pleaded guilty last November to producing a machete during an assault on Kenneth Fitzsimons. The court heard that the assault was one of more than 70 incidents, including arson and firearms offences, arising out of a feud between criminal gangs in Blanchardstown and Finglas. At a sentencing hearing last week a garda gave evidence that Fitzsimons suffered deep wounds to his neck, arms, legs and torso and that lacerations to his torso exposed ribs on both sides. He required four litres of blood during emergency treatment before being sent for surgery.

Ms Justice Eileen Creedon on Monday said the maximum sentence available for both counts is five years. She said that the attack appears to be related to an ongoing feud and that Cunningham knew where Fitzsimons would be and armed himself with a machete before attacking the victim in “broad daylight”. She said Cunningham will have to deal with his anger management issues and remains at risk of violent reoffending. The judge set this offence at the highest end for such assaults and said it warranted a headline sentence of five years.

Having considered mitigating factors including Cunningham’s expressions of remorse and his early guilty plea, she reduced the sentence to four years and then suspended the final 12 months for two years after release. During those two years Cuningham will be required to regularly undergo urinalysis and attend various programmes as advised by the Probation Services.

Cunningham of Warrenstown Drive, Mulhuddart, was originally charged with attempting to murder Kenneth Fitzsimons (41) at Liam Mellows Road, Finglas, Dublin 11 on April 10th, 2019, but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) agreed to drop the attempted murder charge when Cunningham pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and producing a machete.

A jury that had been sworn in to hear Cunningham’s trial were then told that their service was no longer required. They had heard that Cunningham is an apprentice electrician who worked at Ardmore Studios in Co Wicklow.

Sentence hearing

At a sentencing hearing earlier this month Det Sgt Damien Mangan told Desmond Dockery SC, for the DPP, that the assault was one of more than 70 incidents related to an ongoing feud between two drugs gangs in Finglas and Blanchardstown.

In this case Fitzsimons, in a statement given to gardaí shortly after the assault, said he saw Cunningham jogging and then sprinting towards him with a “big-ass machete”. Fitzsimons told gardaí he heard Cunningham say something like: “Kenneth, I’m going to chop you up.”

Fitzsimons described being knocked to the ground where he was struck repeatedly with the machete.

The entire incident was captured on CCTV which was shown to the court.