Sentencing of man who attacked gardaí adjourned to July

The Special Criminal Court has adjourned the sentencing of a 24-year-old man who admitted stabbing a garda and trying to set Conor McGregor's pub on fire to July, as it wants a comprehensive risk assessment report from the probation service to address the man’s radicalisation by the so-called Islamic State.

Abdullah Khan, whose address can’t be published by order of the court, pleaded guilty to eight charges, including two terrorist offences in connection with the attacks in July last year.

He admitted he stabbed a garda and set the pub on fire because he was a supporter of the Islamic State and Jihadism.

He said he was inspired by the Islamic State founder, Musab al-Zarqawi and had pledged his allegiance to the terrorist organisation.

Khan was charged that he committed arson on 25 July last year by pouring petrol on the front door of the Black Forge Inn in Drimnagh and lighting it with a match.

He was also charged with assaulting Garda Gary Lynch causing him harm four days later on Capel Street in Dublin and attempting to assault Garda Patrick Nevin.

He was charged with producing a knife during the same incident and two counts of endangerment, by engaging in conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious harm to the two gardaí.

Khan was further charged with two counts of engaging in terrorist-linked activity on the dates of each offence.

Presiding judge, Ms Justice Karen O’Connor said this today that was a case which would clearly require significant post-release supervision.

She said the court was not in a position to finalise the sentence until it had the assistance of the probation service.

She said the court wanted a comprehensive, structured report to address Khan’s radicalisation which was referred to in detail during the sentence hearing.

The matter will now be mentioned in court on 13 July, with a view to finalising the sentence by the end of that month if the probation report is ready.

But Judge O’Connor acknowledged that this was a special report being sought by the court, which might take additional time.

The judge apologised to Mr Lynch, who was in court, for not being in a position to finalise matters today.

Last month, the court heard Mr Lynch and Mr Nevin had been on patrol near Little Britain Street when Khan ran up behind them carrying a knife.

He stabbed Mr Lynch in the arm while shouting "Allahu Akbar".

He continued to wield the knife and move towards the gardaí.

They used batons and pepper spray and a member of the public brought Khan to the ground before he was arrested.

When he was interviewed following his arrest, Khan admitted setting fire to to Conor McGregor’s pub four days earlier, telling gardaí it was "better to get that over with now than have it come back to me later".

He said he was angry at Mr McGregor because he was someone who had helped the far right grow in Ireland, and that Mr McGregor was playing dangerous games.

He was also angry at the State for permitting free speech and in his view, allowing the prophet Muhammed to be insulted.

He said this was "outrageous" and made him "sad".

The court was told Khan was part of a wider group of people of a like-minded mindset and an investigation was still ongoing.

Mr Lynch suffered two lacerations to his arm and required surgery for nerve damage.

In a victim impact statement handed into the court, he described his shock and disbelief that there was nothing he could do to prevent such a violent attack.

He described ongoing pain, discomfort and stress.

Khan told gardaí he had started listening to people like Mr al-Zarqawi online from the age of 18 and his beliefs had progressed in his early 20s.

He declared his support for Islamic State ideology and said he had pledged his allegiance to the organisation.

He said he wanted to injure the garda to make the point that there is a duty on the State "anywhere in the world" to denounce insults against the prophet.

Mr Bowman said his client acknowledged the harm he had caused and wanted to apologise.