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You are > Home > Serial armed robber to do long stretch
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26 January 2012
Serial armed robber to do long stretch
A YOUNG man charged with four counts of armed robbery pleaded guilty at the Circuit Court in Wexford recently, and could face life imprisonment for the crimes.
Ian Sullivan (24) with an address at 1 Sunset Avenue, Riverchael pleaded guilty to four counts of armed robbery on dates between February 5 and 24, 2010 at Courtown Harbour, Kilmuckridge, Ballycanew and Arklow.
The court heard evidence from Det. Sgt. Mark Whelan, Gorey Garda Station, that on February 5 2010, two armed raiders entered the Bord na Mona offices on South Quay, Arklow and threatened two members of staff, Ciaran Filan and David Barden with a gun and an axe.
The court heard that the gun, a sawn off rifle, was trained on the staff at all times throughout the robbery. The raiders escaped the scene with €4,500 in cash and €3,000 in cheques, in a car stolen from Dublin, later found abandoned in Inch.
Londis in Ballycanew was the next location targeted on February 20, this time a lone gunman entered the shop at approximately 8.50 pm, and threatened to use the weapon, again a sawn off rifle, on the two staff members if they did not comply with his demands. The gun man stole between €600 and €700 before escaping.
Count one on the indictment, and the third case of robbery occurred the next day, February 21 at the Checkout Shop in Courtown Harbour, when at around 8:30pm, €1000 was stolen from shop assistant Bernadette Waters.
Det. Sgt. Whelan told the court that there were also “three or four” customers in the shop at the time.
The suspect was again using a sawn-off rifle, and had his face covered and hands in gloves. No injuries were sustained in the raid, but the court was told by Det. Sgt. Whelan that Ms. Waters was left “badly shaken by the incident and very nervous as a result.”
The final offence took place at Kilmuckridge Post Office on February 24 2010, when, according to Det. Sgt. Whelan, two armed raiders, masked and gloved, threatened the Post Mistress Emily Murphy with the sawn-off rifle and a taser, and escaped with €1,868.
The raiders escaped in a car stolen from Dublin, the court heard, and the vehicle was later found in the Chapelwood estate.
The court also heard that on the same date, a 14-15 year old schoolboy in the area had his mobile phone stolen by the raiders. The phone was later recovered in the defendant’s house.
Following his arrest, Sullivan made a full admission to Gardaí in his first interview, Det. Sgt. Whelan said, and led Gardaí to the location of the rifle used in all four raids.
“In fairness to Mr. Sullivan,” Det. Sgt. Whelan said, “it probably wouldn’t have been recovered but for him.” The gun was buried, the court heard, in a boundary ditch at Sullivan’s home.
The court heard how Sullivan has apologised to the staff and customers at all four of the locations he raided, and that he was “motivated by a drug problem and a drug debt” according to his barrister, Mr. Aidan Doyle.
Taking to the stand, Sullivan told the court that he was under the influence of drugs at the time, and that it was “completely out of character” for him.
“I never would have hurt anyone,” he said.
The Dublin native claimed he was now drug free and had been receiving help and counselling for his problem, and had voluntarily contacted the Cornmarket Project every week for many months to get his habit under control.
He told the court that he had been admitted to St. Senan’s Hospital in Enniscorthy shortly after the last robbery and following his release from the hospital, attended Cornmarket.
“I was suicidal at the time after everything I’d done and put my family through,” he told Judge Teehan.
Speaking on behalf of his client, Mr. Doyle told the court that Sullivan had an “impressive” work CV, and a “substantial” amount of testimonials from people happy to give character references for him, all of whom claimed the defendant was a very pleasant man “when at his best”.
Mr. Doyle did however say that “they are serious robberies and I cannot resile from that.” Mr. Doyle noted that Sullivan had entered a guilty plea and had shown remorse for his actions.
“I hope and believe the court will be satisfied Mr. Sullivan is remorseful,” he said.
He told the court that Sullivan had been under a threat from “bigger players and suppliers at the time,” and that he is still in significant debt to his father who was forced to help him.
Judge Teehan admitted that the evidence of his rehabilitation from his GP and Cornmarket was “impressive” but also noted that “these are extremely serious offences,” and that “very clearly some degree of planning went into them.”
The Judge pointed out to the court that each offence of armed robbery carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and therefore remanded Sullivan on continuing bail to the October sessions of the court to allow time to check on his progress.
“If he were to write to all of the injured parties, that is something that might impress me,” he said but quickly told the defendant “I am making no promises whatsoever. These are very grave offences.”
He told Sullivan that what happened in October would depend on what happened in the interim, and said that it was important that he stay drug and alcohol free.
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