A doctor has said it was a “miracle” he was not killed when a violent criminal with 129 previous convictions broke into his home and stabbed him multiple times during a “vicious” home invasion.
The Central Criminal Court was told on Monday that the defendant, Dean Hayes, was armed with a knife when he entered the victim’s bedroom as he was watching YouTube.
The victim said he felt his attacker was going to kill him and was intent on getting revenge for something.
Hayes (37) of Lee Estate, Island Road in Limerick, had originally been charged with the attempted murder of Waleed Mustafa (45) at Newcastle, Dublin Road, Castletroy, on June 20th, 2024.
However, when arraigned before the Central Criminal Court last October, Hayes pleaded guilty to entering a building as a trespasser and carrying a knife.
Hayes also pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious harm to Mr Mustafa.
Prosecution counsel, Ronan Kennedy SC, said the State will not be proceeding with the attempted murder charge.
Mr Mustafa is originally from Sudan and came to Ireland to work as a doctor.
On June 20th, Mr Kennedy said Mr Mustafa had retired to his bedroom and at approximately 9pm the door opened. He saw a man walk into his bedroom, whom he had “never seen in his life before”.
Mr Mustafa could see he was armed with a dark-handled knife with a blade of approximately 30cm. The man told Mr Mustafa “you ripped someone” or words to that effect, said counsel. The victim did not know what the man meant but felt the attacker was intent on getting revenge for something.
When Mr Mustafa stood up from his bed, the man immediately started to attack him. He was stabbed in the chest with the knife. The assailant proceeded to hit him in the left side of the chest with the knife, causing it to break.
Mr Kennedy said the victim tried to open the front door of the house to escape but it was locked. When he turned to get the keys, the man was standing next to him with another knife in his hand. The victim said he again attacked him viciously with the knife and there was a struggle as he tried to get out of the house to safety.
“I felt like he was trying to kill me,” the victim told gardaí.
Counsel said Mr Mustafa managed to break away from Hayes and get out the back door into the garden. It was at this point the victim realised he had two knife wounds to the head.
Mr Mustafa made it on to the road outside the house but as he ran to a local Centra shop, he saw Hayes following him. The employees in the shop called an ambulance for the victim.
Mr Mustafa, counsel said, had multiple stab wounds to the lower abdomen, upper back, neck and forehead. The tendons in the right hand were exposed from the knife attack. The victim underwent surgery, requiring a laparotomy for the stab wound to the abdomen to ensure there was no damage to the internal organs.
The court heard that Hayes has 129 previous convictions, which span back to 2003 and include 17 convictions for burglary, 66 for theft, two for aggravated burglary, three for robbery, two for assault causing harm and five for possession of drugs for sale or supply.
Under cross-examination, Det Gda Johnathan Finn agreed with Mark Nicholas SC, defending, that his client has a long-term addiction to intoxicants. The officer agreed that these offences are linked to drug use and getting money for drugs.
“It’s a chaotic, difficult, addiction-ridden life this man leads and the offending overflows from that,” Mr Nicholas said.
In his victim impact statement Mr Mustafa said he felt “sheer terror” when the attack happened and also disbelief that such violence could occur inside his home.
He had been diagnosed with hypertension, experiences anxiety, is hyper-vigilant and suffers from sleep disturbance since the incident.
Mr Justice David Keane remanded Hayes in custody until February 3rd, when he will be sentenced.