You may recall the assault on a man and a woman on the Number 40 bus near Old Kilmainham village, Dublin 8, in July of last year – the latter stages of which were filmed (above).
They found the guy.
And this happened.
The Irish Independent reports:
“A Dublin man who carried out a prolonged violent attack on two people in a row over a seat on a bus has received a three-year suspended sentence. [Peter] Harte of Kildonan Road, Finglas, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm to Pedro Mendez [from Portugal] and Gabriella Leon [from Mexico] at Old Kilmainham Road, Dublin on July 24, 2014.”
“Judge Desmond Hogan said Harte must carry out 240 hours voluntary work in the community as part of the suspended sentence and finish up participation with the Restorative Justice Programme. He also said Harte must also undergo drug, alcohol and anger management programmes if deemed suitable and ordered that the €1,500 he had raised as a token of remorse be passed on to the victims.”
“…He grabbed Mr Mendez’s long hair and got him into a headlock and whispered into his ear: “I’m going to kill you”. The victim pleaded with him, saying “Just let me go, I will get off the bus”.
“Ms Leon described Harte’s attack as being like a boxer in a fight. She called gardaí on her phone but Harte continued the attack. Ms Leon began recording the attack on her phone and when Harte saw her doing this he swung at her, knocking the phone away. He punched her face with a closed fist and continued punching her to the back of her head when she turned away from him to protect herself.”
Previously: Who Is He?
‘Ms Leon began recording the attack on her phone and when Harte saw her doing this he swung at her, knocking the phone away. He punched her face with a closed fist and continued punching her to the back of her head when she turned away from him to protect herself.’
He commits a serious assault against against a young woman. He commits a similar assault against her male companion. He has previous. Why wasn’t he jailed?
Be fair, this isn’t a taxation issue – the state was unharmed.
Course he wasn’t jailed. Sure its not like anyone was stuck in their car for an hour with the ability to leave at any time. If he had thrown an egg at them though he would have been in some serious sh!t.
Item No 1 on the capital infrastructure programmes should have been four new prisons, properly resourced, mind. It’s time like this I’d like to invent a time machine, so I could travel back in time and shoot Peter’s dad* in the mickey before he got up on whatever poor unfortunate woman dribbled this animal out of her foo.
*Randy The Rabid Rottweiler
Brilliant. For certain people abortion should be backdated.
Water *bombs*
He wasn’t jailed because he hasn’t killed someone…. yet!
No jail time is a disgrace. Those people have to live having been victims of a vicious attack he gets to sit at home smug that he got away with it. What is wrong with these judges?
+1
Ah! The judge will never have to sit on a bus beside the likes of Peter.
So,
Here’s the thing – 1. He turned himself in. 2. He pleaded guilty. In doing so, he spared the courts and gardai a lot of money and resources and he prevented the need for the victims to re-live the ordeal and have to testify. There needs to be some incentive for turning yourself in and pleading guilty.
No no hang hang flog flog burn the witch you know
You’re right, obviously Daddy never loved this poor chap enough.
That doesn’t really take away from the fact that he threatened to kill a man and then proceeded to punch a woman repeatedly in full view on public transport. He should have received jail time in addition to the sentance handed down. What an awful man.
1. He would have been caught even if he didn’t hand himself in. Dublin bus CCTV it’s incredibly high quality.
2. Last figures I saw were 85% of people brought before circuit criminal court plead guilty. He’s a violent offender. Plenty of non-violent offenders who plead guilty are jailed each day.
The restorative justice was the reason he didn’t get sent down for this. Restorative justice involves victim input and criminals attempting to right their wrong via community service.
In the article that i read it said that the Guards found who he was from a tip off, which would suggest that he did not hand himself in.
So, he pleaded guilty, when the cops show up on his door step with Dublin Bus CCTV and mobile footage and various witnesses – like he has any choice…
His incentive should have been a reduced jail term.
A reduced scrotum would have been an even better outcome
Didn’t even have to read the piece to know: Judge Desmond Hogan, the hugging judge.
suspended? that’s unbelievable.
He only had 11 previous convictions, most related to alcohol and one for robbery and assault. Nice guy with huge potential for reform.
How would you advocate treating a recidivist like him?
Prison?
A death sentence?
How about compulsory remedial therapy, SIX 40hr weeks of community work and a fine that probably exceeds his monthly income? And 3yrs suspended.
Prison is the answer to nothing.
We need schools and hospitals, not prisons.
Restrictions on Internet access would be nice
No, he needs to be removed from society. Prison is completely the right answer. To say any different is bull.
What a load of poo.
That’s atrocious… I seriously despair. Hope he gets what’s coming to him.
Likely he’s a junkie knacker who’ll never amount to anything. He’ll be in jail eventually. If society doesn’t pay for jail for him now, it’ll just pay his social welfare that till he ends up in jail.
So many crazy judges…
God help the poor f**pers on the recieving end of whatever crime finally lands this social cancer in prison.
Laws in Ireland exist PURELY for people of middle to modest means, who try to obey them as much as they can – exist above or below that and you’re the boss.
That judge deserves to be attacked and then his attacker gets off scot free.
+1
Now THAT would be restorative justice. This guy will make more victims – does it never enter his head one of them might be someone belonging to him?
And the judiciary in this country wonder why they are constantly mocked
To wonder they would have to care first.
A load of wan*
Ah jaysus yerhoner ids de dhrink that has me messed up…. and dhe druugs….. shewer i don’t know what i do be doin’ half de toyem……
Scumbag should be imprisoned.
As a first step.
Re-offending should prompt euthanasia for this kind of antisocial vermin.
At the very least sterilisation.
Dettol!
Total non-sense and somebody is probably off to jail for something trivial like sitting in the road a blocking a car **Cough**Jobstown**
scumbag ought to be locked up – punching a woman in the back of the head?! this is the kind of guy who’s going to end up kicking someone to death on a night out for the laugh.
Infuriating
Serious question – what needs to be done to put an end to crazy sentencing like this?
The “justice” system in Ireland is a joke.
You got it in one, realPolitics. The only ones not laughing at the taxpayers expense are the lawyers firmly clamped to the gravy train. What exactly is the point of a justice “system” which investigates a vicious assault on a woman, finds the person guilty and then lets him off? Can someone explain to me what has been achieved here?
These be-wigged idiots think everyone is as sensitive an upper-middle-class flower as they are. That the ignominy and shame of a ‘suspended sentence on their record’ will mortify them into going straight.
They really have no clue. Filth like this guy will wear it as a badge of honour. Guarantee he’ll be belting out “I fought the law and the law lost” in some grotty pub tonight.
so he’ll be out on the piss tonight, yeah?
*rips up bus timetable*
Disgusting outcome. All that fella has learned is he can do that sort of thing and walk away from it as long as he doesn’t do it again for a while.
With 11 priors, he’s well aware.
He got 240hrs community service, a €1,500 fine and has to undergo drug, alcohol and anger management programmes, plus his suspended sentence.
But that’s none of my business.
I doubt that will make his victims feel much safer.
so he got away with it. that’s not a punishment for what he did. he’ll barely show up for the community service and some family member probably stumped up the €1500.
We didn’t miss it. It’s irrelevant.
Have you ever been a victim of a violent assault? The major thing, beyond the actual physical injuries, is that you’re imprisoned for months, even years afterwards. You’re afraid all the time, of going out at night, deserted paths, strangers.
The victims get a custodial sentence, this leech didn’t – that’s the point we’re making.
This country…..
wow. just fupping wow.
Prosecution appeal? Surely?
I’d like to see him strung up and burned alive, ISIS style. This fcuking country is joke.
Say what you want about ISIS but they burnt the roads.
…and got the trains burning on time.
Fkn lol.
Merci.
They know how to get ahead
I despair. I really do.
good reporting bs this is my stock
Time to break out the Mammys tights and a nice lump of 2×4
You cross dress when you assault?
One law for rich people, another for poor people
OH HANG ON
Maybe one law for tax paying people and another for the rest?
It’s a dig at those do-gooders who swarm over threads acting outraged when a well-off person gets a light sentence
When a poor person gets off [often with multiple convictions] they say nothing.
Great point. Imagine he had hit her with a sock full of untaxed garlic. Doesn’t bear thinking about.
Won’t someone stick up for the well-off?
I like the sensation of silk stockings on my stubble when I barricade my windows
Wha’
A suspended sentence?!?!?
This lunatic needs to be taken out’ve circulation
Christ t’night
Is it any wonder
Here. Tell us,
Do Pedro and Manuela have a case v Dublin Bus ?
Please say yeah.
Such poo..
On top of this, I’ve just been reading the news that a barman who barged into his ex girlfriends bedroom and stabbed her boyfriend with a steak knife has received a three year suspended sentence.
What in the name of Jaysus is going on in this country?
You left out some information. How did the steak taste? A bit grassy?
This horrific nonsense is what runs through my mind nearly every time I get on certain buses/luas or walk through town. A strata of ferals have festered for generations, electorally unimportant unless they venture into the spaces occupied by the normals, even then…see above
I wonder Jane Ruffino thinks?
Wow the sentence is literally enough to incite vigilantism.
“Scum, sub-human scum” – Alan Partridge