A Tallaght man who organised a vicious knife attack on a young schoolgirl that left her scarred for life has been jailed for four years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Colm Fogarty, 28, of Kilmartin Avenue, was also convicted of viciously attacking an Irish-American tourist who came to Dublin for the 1997 All-Ireland Hurling Final. The tourist was robbed of $8,000.
Fogarty pleaded guilty to the robbery and to co-ordinating the attack on the 18-year-old schoolgirl with his accomplice Lisa Comerford (28), of Kilmartin Estate, Tallaght.
Comerford - who slashed the girl's left arm with a knife - was given a two-year suspended sentence by Judge Yvonne Murphy.
Judge Murphy said she could not ignore the seriousness of the attacks but she was also taking into consideration Comerford's chronic drug addiction at the time and her subsequent progress.
She also noted Comerford had been very sick at the time and that she is the mother of three young children and had no previous convictions.
Fogarty and a woman attacked the American tourist, Mr Mark Slattery, on September 13th, 1997 as he was going into a fast-food shop on Parkgate Street.
One of them threatened him with a syringe and Fogarty stood with his foot on Mr Slattery's neck while they searched his pockets for money.
Fogarty, who had 16 previous convictions, was on bail for the tourist robbery when he and Comerford were in a stolen car and came across the schoolgirl standing at a bus station near the Old Mill Pub in Tallaght.
Garda Derek McGrath said Fogarty waited in the car while Comerford attacked the girl and snatched her handbag. They carried out attacks on two other women on the same day in Dun Laoghaire and in Harold' Cross before they were apprehended.