A man who stabbed a charity worker in the face and back with a broken bottle after he intervened in a domestic argument has been jailed for three years by Judge Yvonne Murphy.
Colin Fisher (36), Oliver Bond House, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to Mr Brendan Tiernan (41) on April 5th, 2001. He has 39 previous convictions.
Garda Joe O'Connor told Ms Pauline Whalley BL, prosecuting, that Mr Tiernan worked for the Legion of Mary and had left a meeting at the Morning Star Hostel in Dublin's north inner city area when he met Fisher who was having a heated dispute with his girlfriend, Ms Ashley Muldoon.
He confronted Fisher and there was a struggle. Fisher had a bottle of vodka up his sleeve and it broke when they fell to the ground.
Garda O'Connor said Fisher then stabbed Mr Tiernan in the face and the victim also received a second stab wound in the back. A passing taxi-driver came to his aid and brought him to hospital where he received nine stitches to a wound in his inner eye.
Fisher was arrested the following day and denied meeting Mr Tiernan or any other man.
Garda O'Connor said he believed Fisher intended to cause serious harm to the victim, who was very fortunate that the taxi- driver brought him to hospital quickly.
Mr Tiernan told the court that he would not have interfered in the row if he didn't believe there was a threat to Ms Muldoon. He said that although the wound to his face was serious, it was not visible any more but his back still ached when he stood up straight.
Fisher told the court he received a number of injuries himself in the struggle but never stabbed Mr Tiernan in the back. He said that Mr Tiernan must have injured his back from broken glass on the ground when the two men were rolling around.
When Ms Whalley told him that the taxi-driver said in his statement he witnessed Fisher "pump the broken bottle into Mr Tiernan's back", Fisher replied: "He's lying. I never stabbed him in the back. You may as well lock me up and throw away the key because you have already made your mind up".
After repeated interruptions, Ms Whalley told him they would be there all day to which he replied: "Ok, let's be here all day. I'm not going anywhere for 10 to 20 years." He said it was a domestic dispute and Mr Tiernan should never have got involved.
Garda O'Connor denied knowing that Fisher had seven children or that his mother had recently died. He said Fisher had a number of addresses around the city but he knew him mainly from the streets.
Mr Luigi Rea BL, for Fisher, said it was a delicate case but his client admitted he shouldn't have brought the bottle into the dispute. He apologised for injuring Mr Tiernan and recognised that a jail sentence had to be imposed.