The Times has reported that a teenager has been jailed for a year throwing a stone at another youth’s head in what the victim says was a homophobic attack.

The 18 year-old teenager, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty at Dublin Criminal Court to assault causing harm on July 17, 2016, in a Dublin suburb.

The victim of the attack, a young actor, was left needing 11 stitches which resulted in a permanent scar above his right eye.

Judge Melanie Greally said it was an “extremely nasty assault” with “undertones of homophobia”. She added that although the perpetrator denied the homophobic element, the words heard by the victim “speak for themselves”.

She sentenced the teenager to three years but suspended the final two years, acknowledging that he had shown remorse and was 15 years old at the time of the attack.

The teenage boy has 24 previous convictions for assault, theft, burglary, criminal damage and trespass.

The court has previously heard that the then 16 year-old victim and his 11 year-old brother were walking their dog on a local green when the defendant and another youth approached them.

The victim later told Gardaí that the pair called him “a dope” and “a fag” and were saying that he was gay.

He tried to ignore them and then felt a stone hitting his head above his right eye. Garda Eoin Brennan said, “he fell backwards, got very dizzy and everything became very blurry”.

The victim managed to ring his parents while blood poured down his face and the two youths ran away.

Garda Brennan said the victim was taken by ambulance to the hospital and after receiving stitches he was kept in for six hours for observation.

He stated in a victim impact report read by Ms Boyle, that his scar was “a constant reminder that I was attacked because of my sexuality”.

“I live in fear simply because I am gay. I have no confidence in my looks because of the scar,” the victim said before he added that he is living with stress and anxiety. He said one day he tried to jump out in front of traffic.

Having an interest in acting, the victim said he believes he has lost out on some potential acting jobs as a result of the scar.