Man gets suspended sentence for dragging child at Tallaght shopping centre

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

Stephan Obelngoa was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to assault causing harm, assault of a peace officer and resisting arrest at The Square, Tallaght, on October 2, 2023. Judge Sinéad Ní Chulacháin imposed a one-year prison sentence, suspended in full for two years on strict conditions.

The court heard that Obelngoa dragged an 11-year-old visually impaired girl away from her mother and threw her into a concession stand. The girl suffered minor spinal soft-tissue tenderness and abrasions. The judge said the offences were serious and set the appropriate sentence at 18 months, taking account of his guilty plea and mental illness at the time.

The judge said Obelngoa’s mental illness did not remove all culpability. The suspended sentence ran concurrently on each assault charge. The court heard he was assessed as being at low risk of reoffending if he continued on the same path.