A 38-year-old man who carried out two knife slash attacks in Dublin city centre has been given a 16-year prison sentence.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the man and woman were left with scarring on their faces.
Jonathan Cummins, of Henrietta Place, Dublin 1, was found guilty by a jury of intentionally causing serious harm to a man, whose face he slashed with a blade, following a trial last November.
He was also convicted of assault causing harm to a woman, producing a knife in the course of an assault, and possessing a scissors.
The offences took place on Jervis Street on 2 November 2023.
Prior to the trial, Cummins pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally causing serious harm to another woman, whose face was also slashed, at Moore Lane on the same date.
This woman, who was also left with significant facial scarring, has since died of unrelated causes, the court heard.
Cummins has 18 previous convictions, including for various assaults.
Senior Counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing, prosecuting, told the court that the individuals in the case had “difficult lives, lives that were blighted by addiction and homelessness”.
On the day in question, Cummins came across his male victim at Wolfe Tone Square on Jervis Street and the pair were seen “squaring up” to each other.
A brawl broke out between them in Marks and Spencer on Mary Street, which was captured on CCTV.
The court heard that Cummins returned to Wolfe Tone Square 40 minutes later, where he attacked the man with a blade, slashing his face. A woman who was present was also assaulted by Cummins.
The attack was witnessed by a car park attendant at Jervis Street shopping centre.
Cummins left the scene with another woman, and the pair walked up to Moore Lane, where they met a woman who was homeless.
He attacked this woman in an unprovoked and vicious assault, slashing her face, the court heard.
Cummins and his companion were stopped by gardaí a short while later and he was found to be in possession of a scissors. The was found to be carrying a blade.
Senior Counsel Conor Devally, defending, said that Cummins had a difficult childhood.
Both of his parents died when he was young from HIV-related illness and he was raised by his grandparents.
He left school at the age of 13 and is a long-term drug user.
Sentencing Cummins, Judge Elva Duffy said his offending fell into the “exceptional range”.
She noted the “appalling nature” of the serious injuries inflicted on his victims and the fact that the attack on the woman was “entirely unprovoked”.
She handed down a sentence of 16 years. Cummins has been in custody since the date of the offence.
