Teen who stabbed another in head with broken bottle on Cork city street jailed

The stabbing of a teenager in the head with a broken bottle is not what people should encounter when they are on the streets of Cork city, a judge said as she imposed an overall sentence of two years on the culprit for his part in this violence and for drug dealing in Mallow.

Judge Helen Boyle said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court: “This was a serious offence and involved the use of a bottle.

“You caused injuries to the scalp of the victim… It is not what people should encounter on the streets of Cork city.

“You have consistently tested positive for cannabis and amphetamines and you don’t see drugs as a problem.

“I can tell you it is a problem, and if you do not deal with it you will continue coming before the courts.”

Samuel Ekpemoga, formerly of St Patrick’s Terrace, Gerald Griffin St, Cork, who told gardaí he was living in a container in Blackrock, Cork, was given sentences totalling two years by Judge Boyle.

An experienced detective said he had never encountered anything like the violence of two teenagers stabbing each other with a knife and a broken bottle as shoppers were going about their day on Oliver Plunkett St in Cork.

Detective Sergeant Colin Greenway said it occurred on April 3, 2024.

Sentenced

Samuel Ekpemoga was 18 at the time and was sentenced on counts of assault causing harm and engaging in a violent disorder where members of the public would have feared for their safety.

Det Sgt Greenway said: “It was a very serious incident and it occurred at Oliver Plunkett Street just before 6.30pm, and it involved the accused and three juveniles.

“The injured party was 16, and he was stabbed in the head with a broken bottle.”

The defendant and a young teenager were standing in a doorway at Casey’s Furniture when there was a dispute with two other youths about an earlier assault.

The injured party made various efforts to stab Samuel Ekpemoga with a knife. The defendant was sliced across the left hand. The youth with the defendant handed him a broken bottle and he carried out the assault on the teenager who had the knife.

“It was a particularly violent incident. It is not something I have ever seen before on Oliver Plunkett St,” Det Sgt Greenway said. 

Apologised

Defence barrister Alan O’Dwyer said Samuel Ekpemoga was heavily intoxicated at the time, but acknowledged that it was something which should never have happened in the first place.

He said the defendant had apologised in person to the injured party since.

Samuel Ekpemoga was also sentenced for having cannabis on September 17, 2024, at Mallow train station. Detective Garda Aidan Long said the cannabis had a street value of €17,900.

The accused said he was homeless at that time and living in a container in Blackrock in Cork.

Jane Hyland, defence senior counsel for the drugs case, said the young man now had an understanding of the impact of his offending on other people.