Courts / Dublin / Report

'I'll chop you up' - Offender threatened fellow homeless services user with knife and hatchet

Date
2026-04-14

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Stephen Crosbie (44) was jailed for five and a half years after attacking a fellow homeless services user with a knife and hatchet during an incident of 'harrowing violence' in Peter McVerry House in Dublin last year. The victim suffered severe injuries, including a laceration to his head and a punctured kidney. Staff members tried to de-escalate the situation, but Crosbie threatened them as well. When armed gardai arrived, they found blood spatters along the corridor. The victim required emergency surgery. Crosbie had 120 previous convictions and was on bail for another offence at the time of the attack. Judge Orla Crowe described the attack as 'deeply serious, brutal' and noted the 45-minute incident of brutality. She reduced the headline sentence of nine years to six years, taking into account mitigating factors, including Crosbie's early guilty pleas. The court heard the dispute started when the victim repaid Crosbie €100 from a €200 debt, leading to the attack.