Muggers robbed teen as Gardaí watched on CCTV

Garda-operated street cameras were instrumental in catching three men who surrounded a teenager near Eyre Square late one night and robbed his wallet before walking off laughing.

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, all pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to robbing €20 cash from a 19-year-old youth at William Street on July 8 last year.

Sergeant Brendan Moore told the men’s sentence hearing on Wednesday that 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, then 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.

“You would be forgiven for thinking it was rehearsed.  They crowded round him. They had drink taken but they were not intoxicated or falling around the place drunk,” he added.

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.

In reply to defence barrister, Deirdre Browne, who represented Noone, Sgt. Moore said he did believe he was genuinely sorry for his involvement in the robbery.

Ms Browne said her client, who was a father himself and a plumber, had brought €2,000 to court for the young victim as a token of his remorse.

She said her client had been deeply affected by what he and the other had done that night.

“People tend to feel sorry for what they did when faced with a jail sentence,” Judge McCabe observed.

Hearing there was no probation report on King before the court and a further report was awaited for O’Connell, the judge decided to adjourn sentence in all three cases to May.

He directed the €2,000 offer of compensation be returned to Noone’s solicitor, and asked Sgt. Moore to contact the victim in the meantime to see if he would accept the money.

“I don’t like the idea. People should not be allowed buy themselves out of jail,” Judge McCabe added.