Third teenager accused of attacking man near 3Arena has case upgraded

Tom Tuite

A third teenager accused of attacking a concertgoer who was severely injured near the 3Arena in January had his case upgraded to a more serious assault category on Friday.

The victim, a Co Laois man in his early 20s, was left fighting for his life in hospital after what was described as a sustained attack.

It occurred outside the venue in Dublin's city centre after a concert by Scottish DJ Ewan McVicar.

The injured party was taken to Beaumont Hospital with two bleeds on the brain and was placed in an induced coma afterwards.

The 16-year-old had been charged earlier with assault causing harm to the man at North Wall Quay on January 30th.

The existing assault charge was replaced with more serious allegations under section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act for recklessly or intentionally causing serious harm to the man, which carries a possible life sentence.

He appeared at the Dublin Children's Court, where Judge Brendan Toale noted the Director of Public Prosecutions stated the boy, like two other teenage co-defendants, should face trial on indictment in the Circuit Court, which has wider sentencing powers.

Judge Toale ordered the boy, who is on bail, to appear again in September for a preliminary hearing to plead for the case to be retained in the Children's Court.

Two other teenage boys, who had their assault charges upgraded on Thursday, are to appear again in July for their trial venue to be determined.

A man is also before the courts on related charges.

A previous bail hearing was told that the incident was allegedly planned and premeditated, and that it was filmed on a phone.