Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said the victims were people who had come to his assistance as Good Samaritans.

One woman who came to his aid at the side of the road was punched so severely to the face she was left with Bell’s Palsy paralysis to her mouth.

Another victim, meanwhile, was stabbed a number of times around the face and neck as he tried to run away from the accused.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said even though the accused was a juvenile it was in the public interest that he be named.

He is Dovydas Andriskevicius, aged 16, of 31 Bellvue Rise, Frankfield, Cork.

The judge imposed a total custodial term of three years with a further three years suspended from when Andriskevicius comes out of jail.

The judge said it was not a good idea for people serving sentences in Oberstown for youth offenders to be transferred to adult prisons on reaching the age of 18.

However, he said it was necessary to impose a three-year sentence in this case because of the severity of the assaults.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said the only insightful report that he had on the accused — written by his probation officer — was that Andriskevicius was severely lacking in victim empathy.

This was so pronounced that he appeared to enjoy outlining the harm he had caused and appeared to find it funny, the probation officer reported.

Andriskevicius was described as having no emotional link with his own violent actions other than the unusual one of appearing to find the actions funny.

The probation officer expressed concern about the risk to the public posed by the accused.

Detective Garda Seán Minihane, who investigated the cases, had a similar feeling about the accused’s attitude.

“His admissions were flippant. He did not realise the seriousness of the charges. He did make admissions but they were self-serving. It was pure coldness from him when he was talking about the incident,” Det Garda Minihane said.

The detective said the two assaults before Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday were carried out when the accused was out on bail for three robberies from the person and a car hijacking.

A young Muslim man who was getting something to eat at a garage in Douglas before sunrise during Ramadan in June was sitting in his car when Andriskevicius sat in to the back with another man and told him to drive to Passage West.

The young student agreed but when they got there the 16-year-old tried to rob him and take the car keys. He chased him through woods and into the garden of a house where he assaulted him further.

The victim was stabbed a number of times around the neck and face. The student, who had been getting on well in Cork, has been in fear since this happened.

On July 25, Andriskevicius crashed a car at Curraghconway and a woman in her 30s stopped at 7pm that evening to see if he was alright. He reacted to her offer of help by grabbing her by the hair and punching her face. She has now been left with Bell’s Palsy in an attack that has hugely upset her life.

Andriskevicius claimed that someone had spiked his drink on the night.

Det Garda Minihane did not believe that.

Judge Ó Donnabháin said he would be as sceptical as the detective was about that claim.

Tom Creed, defending, said the defendant had issues with drugs.