'I didn't feel safe anymore' - security guard stabbed repeatedly with scissors in Hypercentre by intruder
The attack happened upstairs in the Hypercentre.
A security guard was stabbed in the neck, head and back by an intruder in the Hypercentre in Waterford city.
Brendan Harney, of Fahy, Kilmacow, Kilkenny, appeared at Waterford Circuit Court before Judge Eugene O’Kelly. The 45-year-old pleaded guilty to a count of burglary on a full facts basis.
On the evening of January 12, 2024, Harney trespassed into the staff area of the premises and was told to leave by a security guard. He became aggressive and got into a verbal altercation with the guard, before accosting him physically and stabbing him five to six times with a pair of scissors.
The victim ran towards Burke’s Pharmacy for help. Harney took off from the location.
The security guard received multiple staples and stitches at University Hospital Waterford. A doctor told him that he was "lucky it was not an artery". He lost a "load of blood" and was off work for a week.
Detective Garda Sean Lane outlined the events of the day with the assistance of CCTV cameras.
Harney was identified through CCTV footage from Sports Direct and PTSB; he was wearing a green hi-vis jacket and glasses. In the footage from the Hypercentre he is seen trying to gain access to the customers toilets before going into the private section.
Gardaí were able to trace him at his job as a labourer and, with the assistance of Mooncoin Gardaí, arrested him at his address at midday on January 17. When he opened the door, he was holding a can of beer, his fourth of the day. He told Gardaí that the incident was "fight or flight" and that he had acted in self-defence.
The victim said in his impact statement that the attack had affected him physically, mentally and emotionally. He spoke of not being able to sleep through the night and losing trust in people. He wrote: "I had to leave my job as I didn’t feel safe anymore. I can feel everyone judging me.”
The court heard that Harney has 17 previous convictions, including assault, road traffic and public order offences.
Defence counsel Gareth Hayden BL told the court that his client struggled with alcohol misuse. On the day of the assault, Harney had gone to An Uisce Beatha pub and had "two drinks" while waiting for his partner to pick him up. They stopped at the Hypercentre so that he could use the bathroom, which was being cleaned. Judge O’Kelly asked: “Were there toilets in Uisce Beatha?” Mr Hayden replied: “I don’t know about that.”
Mr Hayden described Harney as being cooperative and non-aggressive with Gardaí and that "alcohol had played a factor" in the attack.
Judge O’Kelly said: “It could have indeed been fatal. The victim was an employee and [...] was attacked because he was doing his job diligently. It is not acceptable to break into a private staff quarters and attack a staff member with scissors.”
Judge O’Kelly said that the defendant tried to apportion some blame on to his victim: “He doesn’t seem to realise that he was a burglar who broke into a premises he had no right to be in. [The victim] was perfectly right to put him out, I attribute no blame to the victim.”
Harney will spend three years and three months in prison, and under supervision six months post release.
