A teenage boy who tried to kill a woman he met online has been handed an eleven-year sentence, which will be reviewed after five years.
The boy was 15 when he attacked the woman and left her for dead at the seafront in Dun Laoghaire two days before Christmas 2017.
He pretended he was 19 when he first made contact with the then 25-year-old woman through an online app called Whisper.
They arranged to meet up on December 23rd, 2017, and after suggesting they take a selfie by the water in Dun Laoghaire, the court heard he grabbed her from behind and began choking her before attacking her with a knife.
He then left her for dead, but she survived by somehow managing to alert some passersby after she regained consciousness.
In constructing a sentence, Mr. J Michael White said he took into account what he described as the “cold and calculated” nature of the pre-meditated attack that was carried out “without empathy”.
He said he was also mindful of the devastating impact the crime has had on his victim, who thought she’d taken her last breath that day.
He said the court felt somewhat “uneasy” passing sentence without certain psychiatric evidence, which was withheld by the boy’s parents.
He then handed down an eleven-year sentence but ordered a review to be carried out after five years.
*Reporting by Frank Greaney
