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Shannon man gets four years for knife attack

This article is from page 8 of the 2007-07-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG

A 21-year-old man who took part in a frenzied knife attack on two Lithua- nian brothers, which “could have re- sulted in a fatality”, has been jailed for four years.

David O’Loughlin, Finian Park, Shannon, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Arturas and Aivaras Segzda at Tullyvarraga, Shannon, on December 9, 2005.

The 21-year-old confronted the two Lithuanian men in an area known as

the Black Path and assaulted them with a knife, because he wrongly be- lieved they had raped his sister.

The two suffered multiple stab wounds. The court heard that Aivar- as was Stabbed in the neck, head and Shoulder, while Arturas was stabbed in the stomach and shoulder.

Limerick Circuit Court heard yes- terday that the brothers did not return to work until the following February because of their injuries and with no money, they were both evicted from their accommodation.

Before imposing sentence yester- day Judge Carroll Moran said Mr O’Loughlin lost control in the fren- Zied knife attack because he wrongly believed the two brothers had raped his sister, which was untrue.

“It’s debatable whether this is a mitigating fact at all and even if it was true he (Mr O’Loughlin) 1s not entitled to take the law into his own hands,” said Judge Moran.

The judge said Mr O’Loughlin could have killed Arturas Segzda and “would have done so if the blade

on the knife had been longer”.

According to Garda evidence the defendant, who has previous convic- tions, has a “fixation with knives” and is a habitual drinker.

Mr O’Loughlin has two previous convictions for serious assault and is still serving a three and a half year sentence imposed for the stabbing of a young man in Ennis in June 2005, the court heard.

Judge Moran imposed a four-year sentence on the latest charge.

He also imposed an 18 month sus-

pended sentence on a young mother of two who was charged with a less serious offence arising out of the Same incident.

Jessica O’Leary, (22), was found in possession of a screwdriver on the day of the attack but there was no evidence to suggest she used the weapon, the court heard.

Judge Moran said the circumstanc- es between the two accused parties were “entirely different’ and sus- pended Ms O’Leary’s 18 month sen- tence.

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