AN argument over skipping a Temple Bar nightclub cloakroom queue led to a chef stabbing an Australian tourist, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. Mohemmad Barouche used a peeling knife he had earlier used in a city centre restaurant.
A court-appointed translator interpreted the hearing for him.
Barouche (27), of Inisfallon Parade, Dublin 7, pleaded guilty to stabbing Mr Warren O'Hara outside the Club M nightclub on November 20th, 1997.
Judge Frank O'Donnell said it was a very serious case in which an Australian tourist came to Ireland and ended up with a hole in his stomach. He remanded Barouche in custody for sentence on March 11th. Barouche's wife wept as he was handcuffed and taken away.
When tracked down by gardai, Barouche showed them the knife he had used. Mr Patrick Marrinan, defending, said Barouche had applied for refugee status and had since married an Irish woman.
He fled Algeria after being conscripted into the army and had worked in France before moving to Galway and then Dublin.
His client has been granted a work permit by the Department of Justice and had worked as a chef in Galway and Dublin.
Mr Marrinan said Barouche has only recently been given a full wage and was in a position to pay Mr O'Hara a token sum of £1,000.
Barouche asked to be treated with leniency as a prison sentence would be a far heavier burden for him, given his background.