Man jailed for six years over two stabbings in Co Cork

A man has been jailed for six years for two separate stabbing incidents hours apart which seriously injured one young man and frightened the other younf man who was due to testify in court against the accused who had previously bitten off part of his nose.

Anthony Breen (25) of Brooklodge Drive, Glanmire, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Emmet Sheehan at Brooklodge Square, Glanmire and to assault causing harm to Craig Tansley at Riverstown, Glanmire just hours earlier on July 12th, 2015.

And Breen also pleaded guilty to intimidating and putting in fear Mr Tansley (21) who was a witness in a previous court case against Breen who had bitten off part of his nose during an another assault on August 25th 2012.

Det Garda Mark Durcan told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that Breen had approached Mr Tansley on the night in question and apologised to him for assaulting him the previous year and began hugging him and told Mr Tansley that he (Breen) was really a good person.

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He asked Mr Tansley to speak up for him at his forthcoming court case over the nose biting assault as he hadn’t been able to get compensation together but when Mr Tansley started to struggle free from the hug and looked down, he saw a blade on the ground.

He then realised that Breen had stabbed him in the abdomen and he was taken to hospital for surgery on a 1.5 cm stab wound over his ribs. No long term damage was caused and he has since made a good recovery, said Det Garda Durcan.

About three hours later, Breen was asked to leave an early morning party at Mr Sheehan's house where a number of people had gathered to watch an early morning Conor McGregor MMA fight after he made threats to Mr Sheehan's partner, Blair Carey.

Waking up in hospital

Mr Sheehan followed Breen to his house and began banging on the door and while there was a dispute about what exactly happened next, Mr Sheehan told gardaí that Breen opened the door and ran at him with a kitchen knife and the next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital.

Mr Sheehan suffered a serious stab wound to his left iliac artery which led to major blood loss and he had to undergo emergency vascular surgery at Cork University Hospital to save his life and although he had survived, he has been left with permanent damage including a limp.

Mr Sheehan’s partner, Ms Carey told in a Victim Impact Statement how both their lives were changed in an instant by Breen and how she had seen her partner scared that he was going to die and then had spent hours that night in hospital waiting to hear if the surgery had been a success.

Jekyll and Hyde

Defence counsel, Jim O'Mahony SC said that Breen had asked him to apologise to Mr Sheehan for the attack while his fellow defence barrister, Brendan Kelly BL said that Breen was a Jekyll and Hyde character when he was abusing alcohol and drugs as happened on the night.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain was told Breen was given a three year sentence with two years suspended in February 2017 for the 2012 nose biting assault on Mr Tansley and he was on bail for that assault when he committed the other assaults so these sentences must be consecutive to that sentence.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said it was only as a result of the skill and expertise of surgeons at CUH that Mr Sheehan was alive today while the earlier assault and intimidation of Mr Tansley, a witness against him in another case, was a serious offence.

The use of knives in both assaults was also an aggravating factor, he said as he sentenced Breen to ten years in jail but with the final four years suspended with the sentence to run consecutive to the completion of the one year term he is currently service for the earlier assault on Mr Tansley.