(NEWZIMBABWE) Vicious racist attack blinds Zim PHD student
Vicious racist attack blinds Zim PHD student11/11/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A DUBLIN man has been jailed for a vicious racist assault on a Zimbabwean PhD student which left him permanently disfigured and blind in one eye.
Luke Casey, 25, beat Mapfumo Chidzambwa, 30, with a hurley while his co-accused, Stephen Mooney, 24, struck his head a number of times with a golf club, breaking the unarmed victim's facial bones and sinking his right eye into its socket.
Witnesses to the assault later told police that Mooney could be heard shouting "Do you want to see me crack a n****r's skull?" Mooney was jailed for four years last July.
Casey was jailed for three years and nine months by Judge Patricia Ryan after she twice emphasized that the maximum penalty available to the court was five years.
She said she had to reduce the sentence on the basis of Casey's guilty plea and also took into account the State's evidence that it was Mooney who had inflicted the serious injuries and who had instigated the attack.
Both men pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Chidzambwa causing him harm and criminal damage of two cars in the early hours of 1 October, 2006.
Detectives said Mooney and Casey had been at the same house party as Chidzambwa in Clondalkin, a suburb located some 10 km west of Dublin, along with a number of Zimbabwean nationals.
Mooney was asked to leave after he made unwelcome advances to a number of the women at the gathering. He took exception to this and both he and Casey damaged a number of vehicles that were parked outside the house.
The party-goers went out to investigate but Chidzambwa was heading for home with his uncle when he was set upon.
Chidzambwa had moved to Ireland from Zimbabwe in 2001 to study electronic engineering at the University College of Dublin. He was studying for a PhD in wireless communication at the time of the attack.
His victim impact report stated that he had to live with the horror of the assault on a daily basis and is reminded of it every time he sees his facial scars whenever he passes a reflective surface.
Chidzambwa said he had to take a year out from his doctorate studies and when he returned there was no longer funding available and he was forced to scale down to a Masters Degree.
He said he has since had to "scavenge" for jobs that are meant for people with disabilities and he feels intimidated seeking jobs like cleaning and waiting tables to help his finances because he believes employers may be prejudiced.
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"All the dreams I had have vanished and all the aspirations I had were snatched away by a golf club," Chidzambwa said.
Chidzambwa told the court at Mooney's sentence hearing that he had struggled financially from when he started college but the scholarship had given him a "glimmer of hope" and he had believed his financial future would be bright.
Since the attack he gets headaches, his injuries have inhibited his working ability and his concentration has suffered.
He added that the loans he has accumulated to a total €20,000 are like a noose around his neck.
"If I hadn't suffered the vicious attack, my prospects would be different," he said.
He said he had to stop participating in all physical sports, he can only sleep on one side and though doctors managed to seal leaking spinal fluid after the attack, he now can't do any strenuous activity.
Doctors have also advised him against taking flights because of potential aneurysms and the heat in Africa causes headaches, which means he cannot enjoy a trip home.
He added that he has become a loner and must live with the attack for the rest of his life.
posted by MrK @ 5:44 PM
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