A 33-YEAR-OLD Enniscorthy man who brandished a hatchet during robberies at Wexford bookies offices received a suspended prison sentence in Wexford Circuit Court last week.
Joseph O’Leary, of 29 Father Murphy Park, had recently pleaded guilty to the robberies and also to the theft of a 65-year-old woman’s purse in the grounds of Bride Street Church.
The court from that day heard Garda Grace Fitzgerald that O’Leary approached the woman in the church grounds as she was entering her car on May 5 2011. O’Leary pulled her from the car shouting ‘your purse, your purse’, taking it from her along with its contents of €300 and numerous cards. Her property was never recovered.
Another robbery was outlined by Garda Fitzgerald which took place on June 1 2011, at Harcourt Bookmakers. O’Leary approached Ms. Betty O’Donovan as she opened the premises, producing a hatchet and demanding money. She gave him some notes but O’Leary, who was wearing a balaclava at the time, emerged with €1,520 after demanding more cash.
He also robbed Boyle Bookmakers the following month, entering the premises on July 20 wearing a dark coat with the hood pulled up over a baseball cap and again brandishing a hatchet. He demanded money and made away with a sum of cash.
Defence Council Deirdre Murphy said: “On one hand, the court is faced with three nasty offences which are a repeat of similar offences he committed seven years prior; that is the bad side of the case.
“On the balancing side, there are medical reports showing that there was no pathological element; he had a gambling addiction and was on medication for depression and compulsive addiction.
Judge Barry Hickson said in Wexford Circuit Court last Tuesday: “What concerns me is that it is a difficult case and I want to be as human as I can be in administrating justice.
“I accept Mr. O’Leary’s remorse and I am impressed he is willing to take it on the chin and go to jail. I accept that he has received support.
“He presents an example of someone trying to rehabilitate but aggravating factors have to be taken into account. There is a pattern – all women he robbed are of certain age and are all vulnerable.”
He sentenced O’Leary to six months in prison for assault, and ten years for each of the three robberies.
However, he suspended these sentences for three years, with a €500 bond on the understanding that O’Leary continues his treatment in Aiseiri Treatment Centre and liaisons and engages with the probation service.
[For the full story, see this week’s Echo]