Judge imposes 10 year prison sentence on Limerick man who has spent 90% of his life in custody

A judge has imposed a ten-year prison sentence on "a prolific, insidious offender" with 129 previous convictions who broke into a doctor's home in Limerick and stabbed him multiple times during a "vicious" home invasion.

Mr Justice David Keane commented today that the victim's survival, despite the "extreme and excessive violence" used, was a matter of luck rather than judgment on behalf of violent Limerick criminal Dean Hayes, who has an "entrenched criminal history".

Sentencing Hayes - who has spent 90%of his life in custody - at the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Keane said it was "particularly concerning" that the defendant had burgled and ransacked a neighbouring bungalow in 2009.

In his victim impact statement delivered last month, Waleed Mustafa said it was a "miracle" he wasn't killed that night. Mr Mustafa described the first knife breaking during the unprovoked attack and how Hayes had gone to retrieve another.

The Central Criminal Court was previously told that Hayes was armed with a knife when he entered the doctor'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.

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Dean Hayes (37) of Lee Estate, Island Road in Limerick 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 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.

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

Prosecution counsel, Ronan Kennedy SC, told the court today that the Director of Public Prosecutions [DPP] was entering a nolle prosequi on attempted murder, meaning the State would not be proceeding with that charge against Hayes.

Before delivering sentence today, Mr Justice Keane noted that the victim had received multiple stab wounds to the abdomen, upper back, arms, neck, forehead and fingers. He said a doctor who treated the victim had described the injuries as being high risk wounds. "Fortuitously", the judge said, there was no injury to the internal organs of the abdomen.

The judge said the victim impact statement made it clear that grave psychological harm was suffered. He said Mr Mustafa was diagnosed with hypertension, had become more withdrawn and now avoided interaction with people. He said the doctor has a persistent insecurity and no longer felt completely safe in his own home.

Mr Justice Keane pointed out that CCTV footage showed Hayes, who was under the influence of intoxicants, had unsuccessfully tried to enter a neighbouring bungalow prior to the attack. Furthermore, the judge said it was "particularly concerning" and an aggravating factor that the defendant had burgled and ransacked that neighbouring bungalow in 2009.

Referring to the offence of assault causing serious harm, the judge said the attack was "entirely unprovoked, vicious and sustained", causing multiple lacerations to the victim. He said Mr Mustafa was assaulted in his bedroom and received a stab wound to the abdomen, which exposed fatty tissue underneath.

He said it remained entirely unclear why Hayes chose to maintain the vicious assault on Mr Mustafa, obtaining a second weapon rather than retreating.

Mr Justice Keane set the headline sentence for the offence of assault causing serious harm at 15 years imprisonment.

Concerning the second count of aggravated burglary, the judge said Hayes had a knife with him when he entered the victim's home and used extreme and excessive violence on him. He said the appropriate headline sentence was also 15 years imprisonment.

Mr Justice Keane noted that the most significant mitigating factor was Hayes' admission of guilt. He said the defendant did not deserve credit for previous good character as he had 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.

The judge said the DPP had submitted that certain previous convictions were partly relevant, including that the property directly adjacent to the victim had been burgled by the defendant in 2009. He said nothing had been taken but that the property had been totally ransacked.

The judge said a probation report noted that Hayes had limited recollection of the offence due to the level of his intoxication, having consumed vodka and street tablets.

Mr Justice Keane said Hayes had been back in the community less than 12 weeks when he committed these offences. He said a probation report found Hayes was "a prolific, insidious offender" for the last 20 years and had a chronic drug addiction, which increased his impulsivity.

The probation service, he said, also classified him at high risk of reoffending over the next 12 months due to his "entrenched criminal history" and chronic drug and alcohol addiction.

The judge said Hayes had spent 90% of his life in custody; first in juvenile detention and then in prison.

Substance abuse, the judge said, had been a key feature of Hayes' life. He said a probation report found that the defendant began using cannabis at nine years of age and experimented with other drugs from 12 years old.

Mr Justice Keane said Hayes had declined addiction support and psychology services in prison. He said the defendant's compliance with the probation services had been extremely sporadic in the past and it was likely he would require a level of support upon his release from prison.

The judge imposed concurrent sentences of 12 years imprisonment with the final two years suspended for the offences of assault causing serious harm and aggravated burglary on condition that Hayes engage in a residential drug treatment and a victim empathy programme. The sentences were backdated to June 2024.

SENTENCE HEARING

At a sentencing hearing on January 26 last, Detective Garda Jonathan Finn 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".

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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.

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 graduated in 2003 and had worked for the last three years at University Hospital Limerick.

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.

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.

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 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. "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.