State accepts plea to lesser charge for violent criminal with 90 previous convictions

A man with ninety previous convictions has been sentenced to four years imprisonment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court following an assault in the city centre. Jonathan Donovan (37) pleaded guilty to assault causing harm after the State accepted the lesser charge in lieu of the original allegation of assault causing serious harm. The incident occurred on Gardiner Street on 13 February 2022, when Donovan attacked a man, inflicting a fifteen-centimetre wound extending from ear to cheek. The victim sustained ten injuries, including chest lacerations resulting in internal bleeding, and was hospitalised with no recollection of the attack. Gardaí identified Donovan through CCTV footage and recovered evidence linking him to the assault. His criminal history includes previous convictions for assault causing serious harm and assault causing harm. Judge Martin Nolan imposed the sentence, which was backdated to February 2022 when Donovan entered custody, noting the vicious nature of the attack and his established pattern of serious violence.