Courts / Dublin / Report

Tourist spent weeks in coma and 'will never be the same again' after city attack

Date
2023-03-17

Stage
Sentence

Court
At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

A 25‑year‑old English tourist, Thomas Oliver, was attacked in Dublin on 17 April 2022 and spent five and a half weeks in hospital, including three weeks in a coma at Beaumont Hospital. He suffered severe head injuries, loss of muscle mass, headaches, loss of smell and taste, and ongoing post‑traumatic stress. Oliver described waking as a "shell of a human" and expressed that the psychological damage would never leave him or his family. He thanked Irish emergency services and noted the financial cost of his care. The assailant, 19‑year‑old Stefan Bornac, pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Oliver and assault causing harm to Oliver's friend James Lightly. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Bornac to four and a half years in prison, with nine months suspended, after reducing a headline sentence of six and a half to seven years because of his age, good character, lack of record, guilty plea and cooperation.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Tourist spent weeks in coma and 'will never be the same again' after city attack. Charges or matters: assault causing serious harm to Mr Oliver and to assault causing harm to James Lightly, a friend of Mr Oliver's, on D'Olier Street in Dublin 2. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

April 17, 2022 Incident
2023-03-17 Publication

Case subjects

Stefan Bornac

Defendant

Charges: assault causing serious harm to Mr Oliver and to assault causing harm to James Lightly, a friend of Mr Oliver's, on D'Olier Street in Dublin 2 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: The judge set a headline sentence of six and a half to seven years, but reduced this on account of Bornac's young age, his previous good character, lack of any record, work history, guilty plea and cooperation with gardaí. "I can come to the conclusion that Bornac is unlikely to offend to any great degree in the future," said Judge Nolan.