exclusive 'I don't think he'll ever be the same' - man (76) lay injured alone for five days after assault by neighbour

In the first crime he punched and dragged the teenager by her hair in an early-morning assault with the victim fearing she would die as he beat her.

More than a year later, having broken into his elderly neighbour’s home for a second time in a matter of months, he punched and beat the man before putting him in a headlock.

Quigley also threatened to kill Fikadu Woldemeacheal (76), who was so terrified of his attacker returning that he hid injured in his home.

Speaking to the Irish Independent yesterday, his daughter Maria Walsh recalled finding her father seriously injured five days after the attack.

“We hadn’t heard from him in days, so I went down to see him,” Ms Walsh said of visiting her elderly father. “The shock – he was lying in bed. His house was full of blood, it was a crime scene. He could have been dead.

“He’s in bits, I don’t think he’ll ever be the same again. His nerves are gone. He had mild Parkinson’s before but now it’s worse and he still has a bleed on the brain
and is open now to a stroke.

“We’re so upset but we’re glad this is over and we got justice.”

Judge Karen O’Connor sentenced Dean Quigley, of Temple Road, Blackrock, Co Dublin, to six years’ imprisonment for the three offences.

He was given a two-year term for assault causing harm to a 17-year-old girl on the Stillorgan Road on July 5, 2018.

The pair were walking home from the city centre in the early hours of the morning when an argument occurred.

As the situation escalated Quigley punched the girl in the face several times. He then dragged her to the ground and continued the attack.

In her victim impact statement, the young woman, now 19, said she thought she was going to die during the assault and is still traumatised.

A year later, on July 5, 2019, Quigley broke into the home of his elderly neighbour by kicking in the back door.

He then took hold of a knife while Mr Woldemeacheal fled and sought help from a neighbour.

Quigley was given two years for trespass and criminal damage in relation to this incident to run concurrently with the assault on the girl.

Three months after the break-in, on October 12, he entered the home of Mr Woldemeacheal again.

This time Quigley assaulted the pensioner by punching him in the face and chest before putting him in a headlock and warning him that if he told anybody he would come back and kill him. He then robbed his wallet and a sum of €950.

Quigley’s identification documents were found at the scene and he was arrested.

After his daughter found him, the pensioner was hospitalised for several weeks.

In his victim impact statement Mr Woldemeacheal said he lives in constant fear and does not believe he will ever get over what happened.

Judge O’Connor said she
took into account Quigley’s early guilty pleas, that he was on enhanced prisoner status, his letter of apology to the victims and losing his father at the age of 10. He also had issues with substance abuse for which he was being treated in prison.

However, Mr Woldemeacheal would be affected for the rest of his life and his home was not the haven it should be while he was being beaten and threatened by a neighbour.

There was a duty to protect a person living on their own or older people and the crimes on Mr Woldemeacheal involved the targeting of an elderly gentleman.