A man who brought hatchets, a hammer and a wheel brace to a violent brawl outside a Dublin city nightclub has been jailed.
Ahmad Majeed (26) was in a mob of about 20 men who showed up at the Lost Lane nightclub on July 7th, 2019, and tried to force their way into the club. A doorman was punched and kicked during the melee and two petrol bombs and the weapons were discovered by another security guard.
Majeed of Warrenstown Close, Blanchardstown, Dublin, came before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed guilty pleas relating to committing violent disorder at the venue off Grafton Street. He also pleaded guilty to possession of articles intended unlawfully to cause injury to a person on the same date at Wicklow Street, Dublin city centre.
Judge Karen O’Connor said that on the night in question a group of about 20 men, many of them with their faces covered up with ski masks and hoodies, tried to force their way into an event in the nightclub.
One witness later told gardaí that there was a "sinister vibe" on the night. Det Garda Anthony Gibbon told the court the group were planning to attack another group who were supposed to be attending the event at the club that night.
This was in retaliation for an earlier attack allegedly by the second gang on three men during which a car was smashed up and one man was injured.
When doormen at Lost Lane forcibly prevented the mob getting into the venue, one doorman was punched and kicked all over his head and body. Members of the mob tried to drag this man into the crowd, but a colleague managed to prevent this by pulling him back.
A shopping bag found at the scene contained two hatchets, a hammer, a wheel brace and a towing eye. A rucksack also discovered at the scene contained two petrol bombs, one made from a beer bottle and a larger one made from a brandy bottle.
In a victim-impact report, the injured doorman said this incident was the most vulnerable he had felt after more than a decade working in security. He said he had since stopped working in security as a result of these events and he continued to suffer flashbacks and panic attacks.
Majeed was later identified and arrested at his home and told gardaí he did not know anything about the petrol bombs. He said that if he had known what was going to happen on the night he would have stayed at home.
He told gardaí “people could have died”.
Richard Brady, defending, said his client was not at the front of the mob and there was no evidence that he had carried out any of the assaults on the doorman. He said there is no history of violence in his previous offending, which are limited to road traffic offences.
He said Majeed is of support to his sister who has physical welfare issues and asked the court to be as lenient as possible.
The judge noted that Majeed is assessed by the Probation Service as being at a low risk of reoffending. She suspended the final year of a prison term of three years and four months on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the entire period.