Dublin man with syringe attempted to rob three shops in five minutes

A man attempted to rob three shops on the same Dublin street in less than five minutes, a court has heard.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Michael O’Toole (41), formerly of Citi Hostel, Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted robbery at two Paddy Power premises and Spar, all located on Talbot Street on October 17th, 2023, News.Az reports, citing Irish Times.

He further pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property and theft at various locations in Dublin city on July 14th, 2021.

The court heard that on October 17th, 2023, a man who was later identified as O’Toole entered the Paddy Power outlet located on Talbot Street at 3.33pm. He approached the counter, put his hand under the perspex and said: “Give me the money.”The Paddy Power employee behind the counter saw that O’Toole had an uncapped syringe in his hand and pressed the emergency alarm. O’Toole was described as “thrashing” at the perspex and trying to grab money. He fled the shop, empty-handed.

Three minutes later, at 3.36pm, O’Toole entered a second Paddy Power shop on the same street and again approached the counter and produced an uncapped syringe. The employees noted that he was wearing distinctive clothing along with one white and one black glove. He again demanded money but got none and fled the shop.O’Toole then entered a Spar on Talbot Street at 3.37pm and went to the counter. The owner of the shop, who was working on the coffee counter, was alerted that one of her staff members needed help and was in danger. O’Toole was again demanding money but fled with nothing.

Garda Shane Costello told Aideen Collard, prosecuting, that from when O’Toole entered the first premises to when he was arrested was less than 20 minutes in total. O’Toole has 86 previous convictions, 12 of which are from the Circuit Court.

Costello agreed with Keith Spencer, defending, that his client went from premises to premises, having no regard for being caught and was looking for money to buy drugs.

Det Garda Joanne Browne told Aideen Collard, prosecuting, of a separate incident where a couple woke in an Airbnb in Dublin city to find the sittingroom window had been forced open. They then discovered that two iPads, a laptop and a bank card were missing. One of the injured parties saw on his phone that his bank card had been used to buy items on O’Connell Street and contacted the gardaí.

Browne told the court that gardaí viewed CCTV footage from Lifestyle Sports, Footlocker and Circle K, all located in Dublin city centre. A man later identified as O’Toole was seen on the footage wearing distinctive clothing and cycling a blue Apollo bicycle.

The injured parties contacted the gardaí to tell them that their iPad had been switched on and could be located via the “Find my iPhone” app. Gardaí went to the location and saw the blue Apollo bicycle and O’Toole wearing the same clothes seen on CCTV footage earlier. He was arrested but refused to answer any questions.A search warrant for O’Toole’s home was obtained, and both iPads and a laptop belonging to the injured parties were found. Items that O’Toole had purchased using their bank card were also discovered.

Browne agreed with Spencer that his client had a difficulty with drug addiction at the time of this offending.

He said O’Toole began using hard-core drugs when he was aged 16 to 17 and has been in and out of prison for the last 20 years.

Judge Martina Baxter said O’Toole has been given an opportunity and was making good progress while in custody. The judge said she wanted a probation report and additional urine analysis and adjourned the case for finalisation until December 17th.

News.Az 

By Leyla Şirinova