A young woman, Alanna Quinn Idris, who permanently lost her vision in one eye following an unprovoked attack, has expressed her continued distress that “the person who actually hit me is still out there and nobody gave him up.”
Jack Cummins, 22, with an address at Rossmore Rd, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to procuring the commission of assault causing serious harm to Ms Quinn Idris on Ballyfermot Rd on December 30, 2021.
He did so by phoning his cousin, Josh Cummins, then aged 17, who arrived with two other assailants and attacked Ms Quinn Idris and her friend, Louis O’Sullivan.
Ms Quinn Idris, also 17 at the time, was struck in the face with the saddle of an electric scooter. This caused a fractured eye socket and resulted in permanent blindness in her right eye. Her friend, Louis O’Sullivan, was also assaulted during the incident.
Josh Cummins, now 20, of Raheen Drive, Ballyfermot, and Darragh Lyons, now 21, of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, have already been sentenced for their roles in the attack on Ms Quinn Idris and Mr O’Sullivan.
However, a fourth man, the individual who struck Ms Quinn Idris with the e-scooter saddle, has never been identified.
“I don’t know who he is, nobody I know does, but he’s still walking around and as far as I know he is from my hometown of Ballyfermot, so that will always play on my mind,” Ms Idris stated.
She also expressed that the sentence handed down to Jack Cummins in court on Tuesday was “too lenient”.
“He pleaded not guilty since 2021 to procuring the commission of assault cause me serious harm, and he only changed his plea recently,” she said.
“I have to live the rest of my life with one eye.”
Ms Quinn Idris suffered a fractured eye socket from the impact of the e-scooter saddle, leading to permanent blindness in her right eye. She has since undergone reconstructive surgery and wears a prosthetic eye.
“There is a lot that I have to go back over when I think about it, and it took four years to get through it. The three of them who attacked me, their cases are all finished now, but the main person is still out there.”
“I am exhausted from it.”
“The first thing I did was just come home from court to my family and go to sleep. The State is not acting for me. I have no solicitor. I am only there because I have to be.
“You’re walking into court and having to deal with this again, but the sentence for being involved in my eye being lost was six years in the end. It took four years for him to admit his guilt.”
Ms Quinn Idris emphasized the lifelong impact of the attack.
“I just feel there was no reference to the fact Jack Cummins dragged this out for four years, and all he got was six years. It is not equivalent or doesn’t come close to the injury I will have for the rest of my life.”
“After all these years, he then changed his mind to plead guilty. I just feel like victims don’t matter.
“You can do that for so long, it wasn’t a harsh sentence, but it is stressful for me. It almost retraumatizes you.”
She described the process of finalizing all three cases as “nothing but painstaking.”
“But the fact the guy who hit me with the saddle is walking around will always be there on my mind. It’s not resolved and will always be there,” she concluded.
