‘I’ve to be be like this for the rest of my life’ – anger of Alanna Quinn Idris at 4 years for man in attack that blinded her

Alanna Quinn Idris has said the jail term given to one of her attackers isn’t justified for the life she has lost.

The teenager was left blind in one eye after being hit in the face with an e-scooter saddle during a gang attack in Dublin over a year ago.

One of the males involved, Darragh Lyons (19), was today sentenced for his role in the incident which included punching Ms Quinn Idris in the face.

He was jailed for four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to causing her serious harm, assaulting her friend, and violent disorder at Ballyfermot Road on December 30, 2021.

Speaking after the court case, Ms Quinn Idris expressed her disappointment at the jail term given to Lyons, of Glenaulin in Chapelizod, Dublin 20.

Asked how she was feeling, she said: “Obviously not very good, being told today what happened to me and the life that I’ve lost is only worth four-and-a-half years, obviously isn’t the best thing to hear.

“I’ve to be like this now for the rest of my life and in four-and-a-half-years time he’ll be out and about. I don’t really feel like these consequences are justified considering how I have to be now for the rest of my life.”

Ms Quinn Idris, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was also asked about her victim impact statement, which Judge Martin Nolan said he was moved by.

“I feel it was pointless now really. He wasn’t really moved too much I think if that’s all that he was given,” she said.

Judge Nolan today described the assault as “premeditated” and “savage”, and said the teenage girl was attacked while trying to protect her friend, who was the “chief target” of the gang.

He said he did not believe that Lyons wanted the victim to suffer serious injuries, but added that he was involved and culpable by common design.

In mitigation, he took into account his lack of previous convictions, his cooperation, and his age, saying that young people do “irrational and stupid” things.

The judge said the maximum sentence for assault causing harm was life and that the State submitted that the sentence should be between ten and 14 years.

Judge Nolan said he believed the headline sentence was between eight and nine years and, taking everything into account, sentenced the defendant to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.

Two other males are currently before the courts in relation to the assault, while the suspect who hit her with the weapon hasn’t been identified.

In her victim impact statement, Ms Quinn Idris said the “vicious and unnecessary” attack had destroyed both her confidence and her chance of having a normal life.

Ms Quinn Idris described how she now has to live the rest of her life disabled, and that the woman she was supposed to become “died that night”.

She added: “Sometimes I wish I never woke up from when I was hit with that object.”

Yesterday, prosecutor Edward Doocey BL took Garda Ciaran Murray, of Ballyfermot garda station, through the facts of the case.

The court heard that the two teenage victims alighted from a bus in Ballyfermot at 9.30pm on the night of the assault.

There was a brief verbal altercation between a male friend of Ms Quinn Idris and a male referred to as Suspect A, who later summoned three other teens to the area.

Ms Quinn Idris and her friend had walked to a friend’s house on Ballyfermot Road when they were approached by the gang.

Darragh Lyons, who had turned 18 that day, arrived at the scene on a bike and was the first to cross the road towards the victims.

He was also heard saying to Ms Quinn Idris’s friend: “Do you want a straightener?”

The teenage girl attempted to get in between her friend and the defendant, before shoving Lyons.

Gda Murray said the defendant retaliated by punching her in the face, causing her to fall backwards to the ground.

The court heard two other males, Suspect B and Suspect C, were attacking Mr O’Sullivan with a hurl and an e-scooter saddle while also punching and kicking him in the head.

Evidence was given that Alanna Quinn Idris had regained her footing and attempted to stop the attack.

She was subsequently hit in the face with the saddle by Suspect C with a “baseball style-swing”, knocking her unconscious immediately.

The court heard Lyons jumped over her as she lay prone on the ground and said “stab him lads” before continuing the assault on Ms Quinn Idris’s friend.

Her friend was struck eight times with the hurl, seven times with the saddle, and stabbed once, while the attack only ended after a minute when passing motorists intervened.

As a result of the incident, Alanna Quinn Idris lost vision in her right eye and will need a new eye for what Judge Nolan said were aesthetic purposes.

Dean Kelly SC, defending, said his client bears moral and criminal responsibility for what happened but did not inflict the “very serious injuries” on the victim.

Counsel also said that Darragh Lyons was not armed at any point during the incident and was asked to repeat his client’s apology to Ms Quinn Idris.

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