Barman stabbed in face with screwdriver

Man who stabbed barman in face with screwdriver has ongoing mental health issues


A Castlebar man who stabbed a barman in the face with a screwdriver committed the assault as he believed the devil would take his soul if he did not do it, Castlebar Circuit Court has heard.
Garda Conor Doyle told the court that Niall Malone was attacked on November 28, 2011 after leaving his place of work in the Cobweb Bar in Castlebar.
John Hopkins of Conloon, Castlebar stabbed Mr Malone in the face with a screwdriver on Bridge Street in the town and repeatedly said he would kill Mr Malone.
Found a short time later near the scene, Mr Hopkins told Gardaí, ‘I stuck it in the face of a man and watched the blood piss out of his face’. A screwdriver was recovered from his person.
Hopkins was later assessed at the Adult Mental Health Unit and in a statement to gardaí he said he heard voices and that the devil told him it would take his soul if he did not hurt someone.
In the statement, Hopkins said he did not want to hurt a woman or child, but wanted to hurt a man as strong as him. He said he swung the screwdriver at one passerby on the day who saw it and ran away. He then saw Mr Malone and recognised him as a man that had barred him from the Cobweb Bar previously. Hopkins said he swung the screwdriver at Mr Malone’s jaw instead of his head as he did not want to kill a person.

Victim impact
In the victim impact statement read out to the court on behalf of Mr Malone, he said Mr Hopkins had ‘real intention’ and ‘wanted to kill me’. Malone said though the physical scars had healed, he is still left with the emotional scars. He said while walking in his hometown of Castlebar he looks in alleyways to ensure he is not being followed. When he is informed by customers in the pub that Mr Hopkins is in the vicinity Mr Malone said he gets anxious and feels like he is living ‘under constant threat’. Malone said the attack has also affected his wife and daughter who ring him late at night when he is working to see if he is okay.
“Some people have told me I am lucky, other people have told me I am not. I don’t believe I’m lucky or unlucky. I believe this shouldn’t have happened,” read Mr Malone’s statement.
Garda Doyle told the court that he did not believe that Mr Malone was the intended target.

Schizophrenia
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Ursula Skerrit told the court that she knows Hopkins for nine years and that at the time of the incident Mr Hopkins was suffering from acute psychosis, namely schizophrenia. Dr Skerrit said Mr Hopkins took several hours to pick a victim.
He is now on medication for schizophrenia with many symptoms abating as a result. Dr Skerrit told the court that Mr Hopkins needed ongoing treatment and monitoring to ensure he takes his medication.
Dr Skerrit told the court that the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum had refused to take Hopkins until the criminal proceedings were finalised, and even then, they may choose not to admit him.
Judge Rory MacCabe said it was surprising that the Central Mental Hospital would not take Hopkins considering ‘expert opinion thought it acceptable’.
“This can give a person in society little confidence in an agency funded by tax paying public,” said the judge.
Defending barrister Diarmuid Connolly BL told the judge that his client did not intentionally target Mr Malone and that he apologised for the attack.
Referring to Hopkins’ five previous convictions, including four for assault, Judge MacCabe said Hopkins had a history of physical violence.
He convicted Mr Hopkins of the Section 3 assault, sentencing him to three years in prison, with the final year suspended for a period of three years.