Accused (18) pleads guilty to assault causing serious harm to Alanna Quinn Idris

Victim, now aged 18, lost vision in right eye permanently as a result of attack by Josh Cummins and others

Alanna Quinn Idris lost vision permanently in one eye after being attacked on the Ballyfermot Road in Dublin by Josh Cummins and others. Photograph: Collins Courts
Alanna Quinn Idris lost vision permanently in one eye after being attacked on the Ballyfermot Road in Dublin by Josh Cummins and others. Photograph: Collins Courts

An 18-year-old has admitted to assault causing serious harm to a teenage girl in a group attack which left the victim blind in one eye.

Alanna Quinn Idris, now aged 18, was hit in the face with the saddle of an electric scooter by a gang of four on the Ballyfermot Road in Dublin on December 30th, 2021.

Ms Quinn Idris was knocked unconscious and left with a shattered tooth, a broken cheekbone and a ruptured eyeball. Despite numerous reconstructive surgeries, she has lost vision permanently in her right eye as a result of the attack.

Josh Cummins (18), of Raheen Drive, Ballyfermot, came before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Ms Quinn Idris. He will be sentenced on November 14th.

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In March, a co-accused, Darragh Lyons, was sentenced to 4½ years in prison for assault causing serious harm to Ms Quinn Idris.

Lyons, of Weir View, Glenaulin, Chapelizod, had also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Louis O’Sullivan and to violent disorder as part of the same incident. Two other accused have also been charged in relation to the assaults.

At a previous hearing, Judge Martin Nolan condemned what he described as a “premeditated, savage attack” that had involved collaboration between the perpetrators.

In a victim impact statement, which she read aloud in court previously, Ms Quinn Idris said her chance of living a normal life had been destroyed before she turned 18.

“I will never be the woman I was supposed to be – she died that night. Sometimes I wish I never woke up from when I was hit with that object,” she told the court.