Courts / Dublin / Report

Mother describes waking up to knife attack by son

Summary

In a Dublin family home, a 25‑year‑old son, Conor Dreelan, stabbed his step‑father, David Dignam, and attempted to kill his mother, Phyllis Dreelan, on 13 June 2020. The mother awoke to the attack, describing seeing a knife in the son's hand and the son's blank expression. The step‑father was stabbed in the eye and fled to a neighbour's house, where an alarm was raised. The son later went to his girlfriend's house and confessed to the assault, claiming he was in a distressed state after taking 2 g of cocaine the previous day. Both parents were hospitalized for weeks; the mother suffered knife wounds to her neck, chest and arm, while the step‑father required intensive care. The Central Criminal Court heard the son had since been diagnosed with an acute psychotic episode secondary to drug consumption. The case is set for sentencing in September.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Mother describes waking up to knife attack by son. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

• June 13, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• 1st July 2020 Incident
• 2021-07-26 Publication

Why: Ms Dreelan had explained that she was full-time Mum and described the accused as 'a Mammy's boy', who looked out for his younger siblings. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Drugs Stage Charge Or Pretrial Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report