'Sheer terror': Violent Limerick criminal stabs Sudanese doctor watching YouTube in his bedroom

A DOCTOR has said it is a "miracle" he wasn't killed when a violent Limerick criminal with 129 previous convictions broke into his home and stabbed him multiple times during a "vicious" home invasion.

The Central Criminal Court was told this Monday that the defendant Dean Hayes was armed with a knife when he entered the victim's bedroom as he was watching YouTube. The victim said he felt his attacker was going to kill him and was intent on getting revenge for something.

A prosecutor also told today’s hearing that the charge of aggravated burglary fell within the upper range as an "unprovoked, vicious, violent and sustained attack" on the victim.

Dean Hayes, aged 37, of Lee Estate, Island Road, Limerick city had originally been charged with the attempted murder of Waleed Mustafa (45) at Newcastle, Dublin Road, Castletroy on June 20, 2024.

However, when arraigned before the Central Criminal Court last October, Hayes pleaded guilty that he entered a building as a trespasser and therein committed an arrestable offence, namely, causing serious harm to Mr Mustafa and at the time had with him a weapon of offence, namely, a knife.

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Hayes also pleaded guilty that on the same occasion he intentionally caused serious harm to Mr Mustafa.

Prosecution counsel, Ronan Kennedy SC, said the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] will enter a nolle prosequi on the attempted murder charge in due course, meaning the State will not be proceeding with that charge against Hayes.

SENTENCE HEARING

At today's sentence hearing before the Central Criminal Court, Detective Garda Jonathan Finn detailed the background of the event. He told Mr Kennedy that the address at Newcastle was occupied by Mr Mustafa and two other men in June 2024.

Mr Mustafa, counsel said, is originally from Sudan and came to Ireland to work as a doctor. He said Mr Mustafa was working in University Hospital Limerick as an assistant professor at the time.

On June 20, Mr Kennedy said Mr Mustafa had retired to his bedroom to watch 'YouTube' videos on his computer. At approximately 9pm, he was lying on his bed when the door of his bedroom opened. Initially Mr Mustafa thought it was one of his housemates returning home but as the door opened he saw a man walk into his bedroom, whom he had "never seen in his life before".

As the man walked further into the bedroom, Mr Mustafa could see he was armed with a dark-handled knife with a blade of approximately 30cm. The man told Mr Mustafa "you ripped someone" or words to that effect, said counsel. The victim didn't know what the man meant but felt the attacker was intent on getting revenge for something.

When Mr Mustafa stood up from his bed, the man immediately started to attack him. Counsel said the victim knew at this point that the man was in his home to hurt him and as he stood up, he was stabbed in the chest with the knife. The assailant proceeded to hit him in the left side of the chest with the knife, causing it to break.

Mr Kennedy said the victim tried to open the front door of the house to escape but it was locked. When he turned to get the keys, the man was standing next to him with another knife in his hand. The victim said the man, who he now knows to be Hayes, again attacked him viciously with the knife and there was a struggle as he tried to get out of the house to safety.

The doctor said Hayes was swinging wildly with the knife and hit him a few times. "I felt like he was trying to kill me," the victim told gardai.

Counsel said Mr Mustafa managed to break away from Hayes and get out the back door into the garden. It was at this point the victim realised he had two knife wounds to the head from the knife attack.

Mr Mustafa made it onto the road outside the house but as he ran to a local Centra shop, he saw Hayes following him. The employees in the shop called an ambulance for the victim.

Mr Mustafa told gardai his adrenaline was so high that he only realised at this point he had stab wounds to his abdomen and head and was bleeding heavily.

Counsel said all the victim wanted to do was save his own life and feels "extremely lucky" to be alive today. Mr Mustafa also told gardai it was a "miracle" Hayes didn't kill him and that he was very lucky the wound to the neck didn't affect his voice, which he needed for his job.

The first knife, which was in two parts, was recovered at the scene. The victim didn't recognise it as belonging to the household.

Mr Mustafa, counsel said, had multiple stab wounds to the lower abdomen, upper back, neck and forehead. The tendons in the right hand were exposed from the knife attack. The victim underwent surgery, requiring a laparotomy for the stab wound to the abdomen to ensure there was no damage to the internal organs.

CCTV footage, the court heard, was harvested from a number of locations including from a neighbouring bungalow. This footage showed Hayes attempting to enter that bungalow at 9pm that evening. Hayes, counsel said, had in fact burgled the neighbouring bungalow in 2009 and ransacked the premises. The two bungalows share the same plot of land, the court heard.

The second knife was later found by a neighbour in his front garden. The victim identified the second knife as one from his kitchen. There were no forensics to link either of the knives to the defendant, said counsel.

Hayes was arrested on June 21, 2024 and interviewed by gardai on five occasions. Counsel said during the first interview, the defendant used the phrase that he had "ripped someone" in relation to a different incident and person. Mr Kennedy noted that the same language was used by Hayes to the victim that night.

Counsel said Mr Mustafa is a medical doctor who graduated in 2003 and had worked for the last three years as an assistant professor in the school of medicine at University Hospital Limerick.

The court heard that Hayes has 129 previous convictions, which span back to 2003 and include 17 convictions for burglary, 66 for theft, two for aggravated burglary, three for robbery, two for assault causing harm and five for possession of drugs for sale or supply.

Under cross-examination, Detective Garda Finn agreed with Mark Nicholas SC, defending, that "a recurring theme", well known to gardai, is that his client has a long-term addiction to intoxicants. The officer agreed that these offences are linked to drug use and getting money for drugs. Counsel said the defendant had been using illicit drugs since his early teens.

Mr Kennedy submitted that the DPP's view is that the charge of causing serious harm straddles the upper range and exceptional case range. He said the offence of aggravated burglary falls within the upper range as it was an "unprovoked, vicious, violent and sustained attack".

Counsel said Hayes didn't retreat when he realised there was someone in the bungalow and that the attack hadn't stopped when the first knife broke. He said the defendant retrieved a second knife and subjected the victim to an attack in the hallway. He said multiple injuries had been inflicted, which had been characterised by a doctor as "high risk" wounds.

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In his submissions, Mr Nicholas called the attack "utterly disgraceful" but submitted that the injuries were not as serious as they could have been. "It's a chaotic, difficult, addiction-ridden life this man leads and the offending overflows from that," he said.

Mr Justice David Keane remanded Hayes in custody until February 3, when he will be sentenced.

The defendant was also charged that on the same date he did, while committing an offence, namely causing serious harm, produce an article capable of inflicting serious injury, namely a knife, in a manner likely unlawfully to intimidate another person.

Mr Kennedy said guilty pleas were entered on count two and three on the indictment with count four to be taken into consideration.

VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT

In a victim impact statement read to the court today by prosecution counsel, Mr Mustafa said he felt "sheer terror" when the attack happened and also disbelief that such violence could occur inside his home.

He said he was overwhelmed with fear and shock and remembered panic taking over his body, knowing he might not survive and see his family again. "The sight of the attacker coming towards me with the knife filled me with a horror that I have never felt before".

The victim said when the first knife broke, Hayes went to retrieve another. Mr Mustafa said he was "surrounded" by his attacker with nowhere to go. "The fear was so intense that recalling it now makes my heart race for how close I came to losing my life".

Mr Mustafa said he had been diagnosed with hypertension, experiences anxiety, is hyper-vigilant and suffers from sleep disturbance since the incident. He said he has become chronically worried about the attacker and further assaults.

The victim no longer feels safe in his home and said he is aware Hayes previously broke into his neighbour's house so he is constantly checking that the doors are locked. He said routine tasks "trigger anxiety" and he remains hyper aware of noises around his home, somewhere which was once a place of comfort.