In December Leanne Kelly, a 34-year-old homeless woman, became the latest person to be convicted for involvement in the Dublin riots of November 23rd, 2023.
Unlike many of the other rioters who have appeared before the courts in the past two years, her involvement was limited to a single offence, though a serious one: criminal damage to a Dublin Bus on the night.
She used a burning Garda car to set alight a piece of cardboard, which she then placed inside the bus on O’Connell Bridge. The vehicle, which had already been abandoned, was destroyed and cost €477,851 to replace.
Kelly’s barrister handed in a handwritten letter of apology on her behalf. But when Judge Martina Baxter suggested putting the matter back for drug testing, Kelly told her to “f*** off” and said: “You’re not getting any urines out of me.”
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Judge Baxter agreed to sentence her there and then. Kelly received six years.
Analysis of Garda and court records show Kelly’s case is typical of the hard line taken by authorities against those involved in the riots, which erupted following a knife attack on a group of schoolchildren on Parnell Square and left a five-year-old girl with life-changing injuries.
An Algerian man is before the courts accused of attempted murder in relation to the matter.
As news of the suspect’s nationality spread, the attack triggered protests by anti-immigration figures, which soon turned violent. The disorder lasted until midnight, leaving three buses, a Luas and two Garda cars gutted by fire and many businesses damaged or looted.
Many of those convicted for taking part have faced stiff punishments.
Some offences that might ordinarily attract suspended sentences were dealt with through prison terms.
[ ‘It was just carnage’: Eyewitnesses and workers on the Dublin riots, two years onOpens in new window ]
Similarly, offences that might usually be handled by the District Court, which can only impose a prison term of one year, are being transferred to the Circuit Court, which has much broader sentencing powers.
“What we are seeing is judges marking the seriousness of that night’s events and the impact it had on the country,” said one criminal lawyer who was involved in two of the cases.
“If the offences had taken place in a vacuum, they would likely get lower sentences but judges can and should have regard to the wider context of criminal offending.”
The lawyer pointed to one man who was jailed for two years for stealing cigarettes from a convenience store during the riots.
“On its own, that usually wouldn’t attract a custodial sentence. But the offence took place in the context of the store being looted by rioters and the shop owner being left in significant fear for his life,” the lawyer said.
Ninety-nine people have been arrested in connection with the riots. Many of those arrests came about as a result of an unprecedented decision by the Garda to release a collage of images of suspected rioters and ask the public to help identify them.
Of the 99 arrested suspects, 82 have been charged with offences, an extremely high rate that can be explained by the 17,000 hours of CCTV footage reviewed by gardaí following the riots.
“If someone was arrested, it’s likely they were caught on video engaged in crime. So bringing charges is a relatively simple affair,” said a Garda source involved in the investigation.
Due to their age, 17 of those charged have been referred to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme instead of being criminally prosecuted. Ten of those have been accepted into the programme, while another seven are awaiting assessments for suitability.
Ten people have been convicted in the Circuit Court and 23 in the District Court for offences connected with the riots.
Another 14 are awaiting verdicts or sentences in the Circuit Court and 22 in the District Court.
The remaining 13 cases were dealt with through “other court outcomes”, which could include acquittal, charges being dropped and the imposition of the Probation Act.
A review of media reports relating to the Circuit Court convictions shows the majority of offenders were not motivated by racist or political motives but were, in the words of one sentencing judge, “caught up in the tide of criminality” that swept over the capital that night.
This tallies with the view of gardaí that most rioters were not motivated by the knife attack on Parnell Square.
Instead, investigators believe many rioters were opportunistic and took advantage of the events to engage in criminality as part of a mob.
This includes Don Sheridan, a 50-year-old man with a “good work history”, who assaulted three gardaí and threw a gas canister at a public order van. He handed himself into gardaí after recognising himself in the photo collage. A garda told the court he seemed to have “got swept up in the frenzy”. Sheridan received a 2½- year jail term earlier this month.
Similarly, a court heard 19-year-old Kyle Lawrence “was nosy and became swept up in it” when he looted shops and damaged Garda vehicles on the night. He received 3½ years in jail last February.
One exception is Declan Donaghey (28), who attacked a migrant centre on Parnell Street housing 50 people and threw a burning box in a Garda car. He told gardaí he was not a racist but had a “close relation” in the school where the knife attack took place. The court later heard this was his partner’s cousin’s child.
Last year Donaghey was jailed for 6½ years, the longest sentence to date handed down to anyone involved in the riots. He shouted “scumbags” as he was led away to begin his sentence.
Another exception is Thomas Fox (22) who received a 5½-year term for taking part in a savage attack on a garda on Burgh Quay. In his Garda interview he called migrants “smell bags” and said he took part in the riots due to the events on Parnell Square.
A handful of other rioters with explicit links to far-right groups are still awaiting sentencing.
All but one of the 10 offenders convicted in the Circuit Court have received prison sentences (sentencing data is not available for District Court convictions). The average sentence to date is 3½ years.
This is partly due to the fact that seven of the 10 had previous convictions. Kelly, the woman who burned the bus, had 66 previous convictions.
The only person to avoid a jail term in the Circuit Court so far is a then 17-year-old who was convicted of rioting, burglary, theft and production of a glass bottle. He had no previous convictions and told the court he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
The records also show many of the offenders had histories of homelessness and drug and alcohol abuse. This includes William Cawley (52) who received a six-month sentence for assisting in looting a shoe shop. He had been homeless since the age of 16 and had recently found his partner dead in a tent on Pearse Street, the court heard.
