Lateef Lawal jailed for assault and false imprisonment

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Lateef Lawal was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for an attack on a fellow resident at a homeless shelter.

Lawal pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault causing harm to Karl Duggan. The offences took place on 1 July 2021 at the Peter McVerry Trust home where both men lived in Whitechurch Grove, Ballyboden, Dublin.

The proceedings were reported on 15 July 2022.

Judge Martin Nolan said Lawal had badly assaulted Duggan, stripped him, falsely imprisoned him for a considerable time and put a video of the assault on Snapchat. The judge took theft and cannabis possession counts into account at sentencing, but said the assault and false imprisonment were the serious matters.

Duggan told gardaí that Lawal hit him with a metal pipe and threatened him with a knife. Kieran Kelly BL, defending, said Lawal accepted hitting Duggan with his fists but disputed using either a pipe or a knife.

Kelly said Lawal had written a letter of apology, accepted that his actions were wrong and criminal, and had lost his temper. He said Lawal might need help with anger management and cannabis addiction and that the offence was out of character.