Homeless Pregnant Woman Stabs Pole In Garda Station

A homeless pregnant woman has been convicted and sentenced for stabbing a Polish man while in a garda station.

Lisa Kennedy, 24, who was born in Mountjoy Prison where she spent the first three weeks of her life, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Roman Majewski causing him harm on February 25, 2006 and to criminal damage of the tyre of a garda patrol car the same night.

Kennedy, who is a mother of two living in the Regina Ceoli Hostel on Morning Star Avenue, spent the majority of her childhood in foster care after both her parents died of drug related illnesses by the time she was 12-years-old.

She was sentenced to three years imprisonment, suspended in full for four years on condition she remained under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Judge Katherine Delahunt noted the Probation Service report that she was taking positive steps to get her life in order and said: "The court is happy to go along with her current regime."

Following the stabbing, Mr Majewski had experienced trouble breathing and an ambulance took him to hospital where the wound was dressed and it was confirmed that none of his internal organs had been injured. He had since made a full recovery. A Garda witness said Kennedy was arrested after another Polish national pointed her out as the culprit.

A Swiss Army knife was found outside and gardai also noticed that the tyre of the patrol car had been slashed.

Kennedy admitted she owned the knife and had stabbed Mr Majewski as well as slashing the tyre with it.

The court heard Kennedy had 16 previous convictions that had all been dealt with in the District Court and included public order and theft offences as well as a history of drug abuses.

(DW)