‘You can’t buy your way out of jail’, judge warns
Three men who acted like a pack, surrounding a teenager near Shop Street late one night and robbing his wallet before walking off laughing, are to face sentence in November.
The trio first appeared before Galway Circuit Criminal Court for sentence last March where it emerged Garda-operated cameras captured them zoning in on a teenage boy, surrounding him, threatening him and stealing his phone.
Gardai operating the cameras contacted their colleagues on the ground and appraised them of what had just happened.
Meanwhile, the camera-operator kept Alan King (29), 2 Clifton House Apartments, Gaelcarrig Park; Brian Noone (33), with a former address at Bluebell Woods, Maree Road, Oranmore; and Gill O’Connell (22), 15 Rahoon Road, Shantalla, in his sights and tracked them as they walked off laughing towards Eyre Square.
They were arrested there by Gardai and later charged with robbery.
All three pleaded guilty to robbing €20 cash from the 19-year-old youth at William Street on July 8 last year.
Sergeant Brendan Moore told the court he and other Gardai were monitoring the Garda CCTV street cameras at around 3.30am, when they noticed three men acting suspiciously.
They followed the men’s movements on camera and saw them approach a youth on William Street, who had become isolated from his friends.
“The three men surrounded their victim and stood over him. Two were much taller than him.
“We zoomed in the camera. The images on the cameras are crystal clear and we could see King catch the victim by the throat, while O’Connell put his hands into his pockets and took out his wallet.
“Noone kept talking to the injured party all the time. They all then walked away, laughing at him,” Sgt Moore explained.
Gardai, he said, went to Eyre Square where they spoke to the three men. They all denied any involvement in the robbery and were arrested.
Other Gardai caught up with the victim in Shop Street. He was upset and distressed at what had happened to him.
The court heard that while the three suspects were being processed and searched later that morning at Galway Garda Station, Gill O’Connell took off his shoe and sock and removed a crumpled up €20 note from under his foot. He threw it at Gardai and asked if that was what they were looking for.
Sgt Moore confirmed the victim had a €20 note in his wallet which had been taken, while the wallet had been thrown back at him at the scene of the robbery before all three walked away laughing back at him.
He agreed with prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy, that the three accused had been acting in a pack manner.
King, he said, had several previous convictions committed between 2003 and 2012, for assaults, serious assaults, obstructing a Garda, and one for robbery in 2006, for which he had received a three-year suspended sentence in 2008.
Noone, he said, had two previous for road traffic offences, while O’Connell had 15 previous for Public Order offences, criminal damage, obstructing a Garda, theft and handling stolen property.
Noone brought €2,000 to court as token of his remorse for the victim, which Judge Rory McCabe directed be returned to him, saying people should not be allowed buy themselves out of jail. He asked Sgt Moore to ask the victim if he would accept the money.
Sentence in all three cases was then adjourned to this week for the preparation of probation reports.
The court heard this week that O'Connell is now in a residential treatment centre dealing with his addictions, while two positive reports were handed into court on the other two.
The judge adjourned sentence for all three to November, by which time O'Connell's course will have finished and he will be available to attend court and directed up to date reports on all three from the Probation Service.