Man who threw fork which stuck into side of security guard’s head is jailed

A man who threw a fork that got stuck into the side of a synagogue security guard’s head has received a 14 month sentence.

Olgerts Romanovs (29), a Latvian national of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm outside the synagogue on Rathfarnham Road, Terenure, Dublin, on September 1st, 2018.

Judge Cormac Quinn sentenced him to fourteen months imprisonment and backdated the sentence to the day he first went into custody, in September this year.

Garda Brian Greally told Eoghan Cole BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question a security guard was working outside the synagogue when Romanovs cycled down the footpath and spat at him.

The security guard challenged him verbally and Romanovs threw down his bike. He approached the security guard aggressively and spat in his face.

Romanovs took a spanner out of his bag and threatened to kill the man. He then pulled a silver kitchen fork out of his bag and threw it at the security guard.

The fork stuck into the side of the security guard’s head and Romanovs left the scene. Gardaí­ arrived later and Romanovs was arrested after cycling back up the street while they were interviewing witnesses to the assault.

In a victim impact statement which was read out in court, the security guard said he was violently sick as a result of a reaction to antibiotics given to him while being treated. He began bleeding heavily from his head after the fork broke skin and required stitches.

Garda Greally agreed with Pieter Le Vert, defending, that nothing antisemitic was said during the incident. Romanovs has no previous convictions in this jurisdiction.

Mr Le Vert said that his client had had an "horrific childhood" and that he began drinking alcohol at the age of five. Romanovs came to Ireland in 2017 and at the time of the assault was living in a tent in St Stephen's Green.

He said his client had not intended to spit at the security guard and lost his temper when he was challenged.

Judge Quinn said the aggravating factors in the case was the unprovoked nature of the attack and the effect it had on the victim.

He said the mitigating factors were his age, his traumatic childhood, his lack of previous convictions and his early plea of guilty.