Man, 23, jailed for 'savage attack' on woman in A&E and separate attack on delivery driver

A man who “savagely” punched a woman in a hospital A&E and a delivery driver who knocked on his door in separate incidents over the course of two days has been jailed for three and a half years.

Ronnie Wilde (23) was also jailed for robbing €40 worth of groceries from a shop in Dublin 8 while armed with an implement on September 1, 2023. He has 52 previous convictions.

He pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting a woman causing her harm at St James's Hospital A&E on September 26, 2023 and one count of assaulting a delivery driver causing him harm when he called to his home address at Clanbrassil Terrace, Dublin 8, the following day, September 27. He also pleaded guilty to the robbery incident.

Both attacks were completely unprovoked, the court heard.

Garda Colm McCarthy told Rebecca Smith BL, prosecuting, that during the first incident on September 1, Wilde was armed with an implement that may have been a knife when he threatened a shop worker in Dublin 8 and stole €40 worth of groceries.

Later that month, Wilde was in the A&E department of St James's Hospital when he got into a verbal altercation with a woman who asked him to be quiet. Wilde punched the woman twice to the face, causing her to fall down. Photographs of her extensive facial injuries were handed into court.

The next day, a food delivery driver was knocking on a door at Clanbrassil Terrace when Wilde opened it and punched him to the face several times without warning. The driver was taken to St James's Hospital for treatment. There were no victim impact statements before the court.

Gardaí were alerted and Wilde was arrested at his home. He was highly intoxicated, the court heard. He has been in custody since. 

Defence counsel said Wilde was under the effect of drugs and was suffering from paranoia at the time of the assaults. Most of his previous convictions dated back to when he was a juvenile. He is attempting to deal with his addiction issues and is drug-free in custody, the court heard.

Sentencing him this Tuesday, Judge Martin Nolan said Wilde had punched both parties “savagely” in separate unprovoked attacks. He noted his history of offending was “lengthy and serious”.

He set a headline sentence of five years but reduced it to three and a half years, taking mitigating factors into account. He backdated it to when Wilde went into custody last October.