Teen jailed for a year after throwing a stone at an aspiring actor in a homophobic attack
The unnamed attacker had pleaded guilty at Dublin Criminal Court
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
A teenager has been jailed for a year after throwing a stone at a young actor in a homophobic attack.
According to the Times, the 18-year-old teenager pleaded guilty at Dublin Criminal Court to the 2016 attack in a suburb of the Irish city.
The victim was left with a permanent scar that required 11 stitches after the teenager throw a rock at his head.
Despite denying that the attack was fuelled by homophobic, judge Melanie Greally said the attack had “undertones of homophobia” and the words heard by the victim “speak for themselves.”
The attacker – who had 24 previous convictions for assault, theft, burglary, criminal damage and trespass – was sentenced to three years but suspended the final two years after he showed remorse and was 15 years old at the time of the assault.
The incident happened in 2016 when the then 16-year-old victim was walking his dog with his younger brother when the teen and another youth approached them.
The victim claimed that the pair called him a ‘dope’ and a ‘f*g’ and kept saying he was gay. And despite ignoring the comments, the victim felt a stone hit his head just above his right eye.
Luckily he managed to call his parents while the blood fell from his scar and the two attackers managed to get away. He was taken to hospital and received stitches.
The victim said: “I live in fear simply because I am gay. I have no confidence in my looks because of the scar.”
He also claimed that he has lost out on some potential acting jobs because of the scar and he said he is living with stress and anxiety.