A drunken "lynch" mob attacked and abducted an innocent teenager who was mistakenly identified as the person alleged to have stolen a disc jockey's rare records.
Garda Máiréad Cronin told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the mob broke the young man's nose with his moped helmet on March 11th, 2001, and then bundled him into one of the cars before discovering he was the wrong person.
Judge Des Hogan noted the youth could not attend the court because he was admitted to hospital on Friday due to stress arising out of his experience.
The victim and his family have also changed address.
Gavin Murphy (24), Brannockstown, Co Kildare, and Stephen O'Shaughnessy (23), Main Street, Tallaght, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and to false imprisonment.
Mr Michael O'Higgins SC said Murphy had €5,000 in court as a token of compensation for the victim and was willing to raise more if the court so directed.
Judge Hogan imposed two-year sentences on both men on the false-imprisonment charges but suspended them on conditions including that neither committed any offence in the next three years. He fined Murphy €500 for the assault and directed that O'Shaughnessy carry out 240 hours of community service in lieu of two years in prison. He was remanded to June 30th for a report on his suitability for community service.
Judge Hogan said he accepted that Murphy's remorse was sincere but the incident showed what happened when young men took the law into their own hands.
Garda Cronin told Mr Garnet Orange, prosecuting, that Murphy had been acting as a DJ at a party the night before and some of his rare records were stolen. Investigations indicated that a certain person was probably the culprit.
Two carloads, including Murphy and O'Shaughnessy, set out the next afternoon to get this man and deal with him. Garda Cronin said they came across a then 16- year-old youth on his moped and the group in the first car wrongly identified him as the suspected thief. He was struck on the face with his own helmet when attacked by the mob.
Murphy drove the second car and helped to bundle the teenager into it but he was released quite shortly when it became obvious he was the wrong target.
Garda Cronin agreed with Mr O'Higgins that Murphy made a full and spontaneous admission on his arrest and said his involvement in the assault was limited to just throwing one punch.
Murphy told Judge Hogan he was ashamed of himself for his role and for taking "the wrong option" in not going to the gardaí about his loss. He wanted to apologise to the victim through the court for his action and wished he could turn the clock back.
Mr O'Higgins said Murphy had lost his job but his former employers had sent a testimonial on his behalf to the court and noted that he had been diligent, hard-working and good-mannered.
Mr Brendan Nix SC for O'Shaughnessy said his client had gone through the worst patch of his life at the time of the offence after the deaths of two people who looked after him. He had employment available to him when free to take it up.