A ROMANIAN NATIONAL who killed a Canadian tourist in Dublin city centre by “brazenly” delivering a “full force running kick” straight to his head has been jailed for five and a half years.

Sentencing 25-year-old Ionut Danca at the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said this was an attack on a defenceless man, who was lying prone on the ground under the influence of alcohol and was no threat to anyone.

He added: “The kick to the head was deliberately aimed and carried out brazenly in public view on a main street in Dublin city. There was no need and no justification for this”.

Instead of Danca getting help or walking away, the judge said the defendant had run at Canadian national Neno Dolmajian, kicking him in the head, causing his death resulting in the loss of “such a valuable life”.

Mr Justice McDermott went on to say that the victim came across as a “positive person” who was full of life, vigour, creativity and laughter. He said Mr Dolmajian was visiting Dublin from Canada, looking for new experiences and to engage with new people in a positive way.

Describing the incident as “devastating”, the judge said there was nothing the court could do or say to relieve the devastation suffered by the Dolmajian family. “The finite nature of what the court does in imposing sentence is nothing compared with the absolute loss and lifetime loss for those who are left to grieve in the wake of a killing such as this”.

He said the victim’s family had suffered not only the horror of losing a loved one but the trauma knowing that it had happened in such a violent way.

Ionut Danca (25), pleaded guilty last year to the unlawful killing of Neno Dolmajian (42) on 2 July 2024 at O’Connell St Upper.

Danca’s co-accused, Madalin Ghiuzan (24), had pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Dolmajian, causing him harm at Cathal Brugha St, Dublin 1.

The judge said today that the appropriate sentence for the “spontaneous and short-lived” assault inflicted by Ghiuzan was 12 months in prison. However, as the offender had already spent four-and-a-half months in custody, he was satisfied that the balance should be suspended in full for 12 months from today.

Neno was assaulted on 23 June 2024 and died nine days later having been treated at the Intensive Care Unit of the Mater Hospital.

Danca, a construction worker from Romania but with an address at Rathdown Square, North Circular Road, Dublin 7 had previously been charged with murder.

Ghiuzan, originally from Romania but with an address at Summerhill Parade, Dublin 1, had a manslaughter charge brought against him.

The murder charge against Danca and the manslaughter charge against Ghiuzan are no longer being pursued by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Earlier this month, Sergeant Donal Byrne told prosecutor Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC that the victim was a Canadian national of Armenian heritage. He had an interest in music and playing the guitar and was travelling alone. He arrived in Ireland in June 2024, was staying at the Ivy Exchange and was due to leave on 2 July.

On the day he suffered the fatal injury, Neno was drinking and after midnight, he encountered a number of males, including the two defendants, outside the Living Room nightclub on Cathal Brugha Street. There was a row, during which Ghiuzan punched and pushed Neno, causing him to fall to the ground.

He remained on the ground for more than one minute and struggled to get back to his feet, the garda said. Neno then followed the group to O’Connell St where there was a further series of interactions in which Neno was again pushed to the ground before Danca delivered a “running kick straight to the face” of the victim.

Before passing sentence today, Mr Justice McDermott welcomed the Dolmajian family, who attended via video-link from Canada, to the sentence hearing. He said Neno Dolmajian was born in Canada and had been raised by his family, who had moved from Armenia some 51 years ago.

The judge said it was accepted that on four occasions Danca could be seen trying to act as a peacemaker but that the victim had gone back to the group and directed comments which were of “some profanity” at Danca.

He said Danca had lost his temper and given “a full force running kick” to the victim’s head”. He said Danca knew there was no need for the kick to the victim’s head and that there had been a significant gap between the “flooring” of the deceased and the kick, which he said had been shocking to watch.

The judge said to inflict a kick like that on the deceased’s unprotected head placed the offence on the upper end of the medium range for manslaughter, which is between four and ten years.

The judge set the headline sentence for Danca at eight years.

He noted the defendant’s plea of guilty to manslaughter and that he had no prior convictions. He said Danca had come to Ireland from Romania at a young age and had been a hard worker.

Mr Justice McDermott sentenced Danca to six years in prison but said he would suspend the last six months for a period of two years.

Referring to Ghiuzan, the judge said he was satisfied the defendant had the upper hand in the encounter and had used a significant amount of force against the victim, who was clearly intoxicated.

Mr Justice McDermott said the tragedy of the assault was that it likely contributed to the victim’s decision “to seek out” the two offenders.

The judge described the assault by Ghiuzan as “spontaneous and short-lived”. Clearly, he said, it was not anticipated by the defendant that night.

Mr Justice McDermott set a headline sentence at 18 months in prison for Ghiuzan, but said the appropriate term was 12 months. However, as the offender had spent four-and-a-half months in custody, the judge said he was satisfied that the balance of the 12-month sentence should be suspended in full from today’s date.

The judge pointed out that the law may seem very “dry and removed” from the grief suffered by those who are left behind. “All I can say is that these crimes should never have been committed and I extend my sympathies to the family”.

Victim impact statement

The deceased’s sister Maral Dolmajian told the court last week in her victim impact statement that her brother Neno was “loved by everyone”. However, she said his head was “treated like a football” during the attack.

Maral said her brother had the “soul and sensitivity of an artist”, was curious about the world and loved to learn as much as he could. He had planned his trip to Ireland around a Liam Gallagher concert.

Maral said her brother’s death has forever destroyed their family.

She said: “My parents have always gone above and beyond to help family and friends. They have always been the most generous with their time and energy. The consequence of all this goodness, all these good deeds, was their only son being killed. Their son who wouldn’t even hurt a fly. Their son who had never gotten into fights, who got on with everyone and was loved by everyone.”

She said bad things happen to good people, and her brother was a “good person, kind, funny, thoughtful and a joy to be around. He made people feel seen and valued. Everyone loved him.”

Maral said she lives with the “unbearable guilt” that she was not able to keep her brother safe and thinks of his final moments every day: “How he was punched and shoved to the ground and kicked in the head at full force… I think about how Ionut Danca treated my brother’s head like a football. I think about how unnecessary and violent it was. I wonder what kind of person would do that, and why? Why would they be that violent towards someone they just met?”.

Her brother’s life had value, she said, and he did not deserve to die in the manner he did. “He deserved to live a long and happy life, but his life was taken from him, it was taken from us.”

She had asked Mr Justice McDermott to impose a sentence on his killer that reflects the violence her brother suffered and acknowledges the family’s loss.

Sentence hearing

Eoin Lawlor SC with Maria Brosnan BL, for Danca, said his client was initially trying to act as a peacemaker and displayed no aggression. He said something changed either as a result of Neno Dolmajian striking the defendant or insulting his family.

He said his client accepts that what he did was wrong and has written a “sincere apology” to the deceased’s family. He asked the court to consider a reference by Danca’s employer describing him as having an “exemplary work ethic”.

Danca has no previous convictions, wants to create a good life for himself and his partner and is unlikely to come before the courts again, Lawlor said.

Morgan Shelley SC, for Ghiuzan, said but for the “extremely tragic” events that followed his client’s assault on Neno Dolmajian, his case might have been dealt with in the lower courts. He had asked Mr Justice McDermott to consider imposing a fully suspended sentence.