A criminal with 124 previous convictions who carried out a "random, unprovoked and brutal attack" by repeatedly stabbing a passing doctor with scissors has been jailed for eight years by a judge at the Central Criminal Court.
Christopher Coakley, 31, - who is a cousin of Kinahan cartel murder victim Derek Coakley Hutch - needed money for drugs when he approached his victim, a doctor who was travelling through the north inner city after work on a motorised scooter.
Coakley kicked the handlebars of the scooter and when his victim fell to the ground, Coakley approached him with a pair of scissors clenched in his fist and tried to take his backpack and scooter. The victim, who had never met Coakley before, heard his attacker say: "Who the fuck do you think you are, give it to me now or I'll stab you."
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When the victim tried to run away, still holding his backpack and scooter, Coakley hit him with the scissors in the head and neck and twice in the chest. The victim tried to run towards Spencer Dock but Coakley followed him and stabbed him a further three times in the stomach.
When members of the public approached and tried to intervene, Coakley ran away and was seen throwing the scissors over a barbed wire fence before CCTV footage showed him heading towards his home at Empress Place.
Mr Justice Paul Burns today (MON) said that the attack was premeditated and Coakley had shown "breathtaking and shocking" disregard for the injury that could have been caused when he repeatedly stabbed his victim. He described Coakley's actions as callous and brutal and said the premeditation and level of violence meant the offence attracted a headline sentence of eleven years.
Taking into account Coakley's guilty plea, a letter of apology he wrote and his history of drug addiction, the judge reduced that to nine years with the final 12 months suspended for three years.
The judge noted that Coakley began using drugs and alcohol at an early age and first went into custody aged 13. Since the age of 16, the longest period Coakley has spent out of custody is six months, the judge said. Coakley's repeated offending, the judge said, is driven by the need to fund his drug addiction.
The judge also noted that Coakley's mother, Paula Coakley is a prominent anti-drugs campaigner. He said he sympathises with her and others in her community for the difficulty and distress caused by drug addiction but, he said, he also sympathises with the victims of crimes committed by people with addiction problems.
For the period of the suspended sentence, Coakley will be required to comply with any medical regimen put in place for him and will live under the supervision of the probation service and must meet any requirements they place on him, the judge said.
Coakley, with an address at Empress Place, Dublin 1, was initially charged with attempted murder but the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped that charge after Coakley pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm at Seville Place, Dublin, on January 28, 2021.
Mr Justice Burns took into account charges related to the production of the scissors and attempted robbery.
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