Gang filmed savage attack on boy who has autism

A BRUTAL attack in which a teenager viciously assaulted a boy who has autism, leaving him blind in one eye, was recorded by up to 30 or 40 friends on their smartphones. The accused is alleged to have bullied the boy on Facebook over his autism in the lead-up to the attack. Yesterday the teen had his sentenci ng deferred on condition he undergo probation supervision. The attack took place on August 13, 2016, at St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. The footage that was taken of the incident was subsequently used by gardaí in their investigation. The perpetrator, who is now 17 but was aged 15 at the time, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing serious harm to the victim. He cannot be named as he is a minor. Judge Martin Nolan yesterday said it was difficult to know why the teenager had acted the way he did and said the case had been a tragedy for the victim and his family. He noted the guilty party’s age and lack of convictions. He said the boy has good family support and was unlikely to come before the court in relation to an offence as serious as this again. He said he felt reform of the child in this case could be accommodated without a custodial sentence. Judge Nolan imposed a period of detention of three and a half years which he deferred for one year on condition the boy is supervised by the Probation Service and obeys all their instructions and directions. He told the boy that it was a serious case and he should be ‘terribly ashamed’ of what he had done. ‘(The victim) will carry with him for the rest of his life the scars of what you did and he will never be able to escape from what you did to him,’ said Judge Nolan. He adjourned the case for finalisation on May 3, 2019. Garda Sonya Skelly told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, that the victim and perpetrator knew each other as they were part of a large group of friends who used to congregate in the city centre. The perpetrator of the attack was identified by witnesses and met gardaí by appointment with his mother in September 2016. He told gardaí he hadn’t realised that the ‘slagging’ was being taken seriously and said he wanted to apologise not only for the damage that he did, but for also for the slagging. He has no previous convictions.