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FACTCHECK
Debunked: Old footage used to claim migrants 'brutally pushed' someone off a train platform in Dublin
There is no evidence to support this claim.
A POST ON Twitter has incorrectly claimed that migrants “spit on” and “brutally pushed” a woman off a train station platform in Dublin.
The post, shared by a US-based account with more than 46,000 followers, contains security footage from an incident in which a young woman fell under a stationary Dart at Howth Junction in 2021.
The footage – which was filmed almost two years ago and led to a Garda investigation – shows a woman running for a Dart, before a youth appears to physically intimidate her while another moves his bicycle in her direction, at which point she attempts to dodge the bicycle and falls under the train.
The clip of the incident went viral on social media at the time, and was viewed more than 100 million times worldwide.
It was re-shared this morning on the US-based Twitter account with the caption:
Dublin, Ireland: Irish women being kicked, brutally pushed off the platform, and spit on by feral migrants who need to go back (after a few years forced labor). We can’t live like this.
The new tweet has been retweeted over 1,100 times and viewed more than 65,000 times at the time of writing.
Three minors were charged over the incident and appeared in court. As they were children, their identities were not revealed. Therefore there is no evidence that any migrants were involved in the incident as described.
Weeks after the footage first went viral in Ireland, Gardaí launched a criminal investigation into the incident.
Three teenagers were subsequently charged with violent disorder, before appearing before different courts last year. Two of the three were tried in Dublin Children’s Court, while a third had an additional charge for assault and was tried at the Circuit Court.
The two teenagers who were tried in the Dublin Children’s Court were given non-custodial sentences after pleading not guilty, with both being given six-month probations.
The third teenager who was tried in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court avoided a detention sentence after pleading guilty, and was dealt with by way of community sanctions.
As all three were children, they could not be named in media reports.
Court proceedings which involve children in Ireland are not allowed to produce reports which reveal the name, address, or school of any child involved, or include information that could identify them. Breaching this rule is a criminal offence.
As such, there is no evidence to support the claim that anyone involved in the incident was a migrant.
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