Man jailed after armed raid on bookies

A MAN has been jailed for an armed raid on a bookmakers after staff were threatened that they would be shot and killed if they did not co-operate.

Ronald Hill, aged 42, and a co-accused first stole a car from a man who had left his keys in the ignition after he pulled into a garage. They then raided Ladbrokes on South Circular Road, Dublin, and took €3,800 from a safe that had been left open as staff were cashing up for the night.

Hill, of Reuben Walk, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to stealing a car, robbery and possession of a firearm on October 18, 2008.

He had served a six-year jail term after he was convicted of attempted robbery and stealing a car in 1988 and has 45 previous convictions for other offences including road traffic.

Garda Jennifer Craven told Damien Colgan BL, prosecuting, that the staff were afraid they were going to be shot when the masked raiders forced the door open to the shop. The gun was pointed directly in one of their faces as she was ordered to stay away or she would be killed.

Garda Craven said Hill’s scarf slipped from his face as the raiders fled and he was clearly identified on CCTV cameras.

Brefni Gordon BL, defending, told Judge Patricia Ryan that Hill has acted as a carer for his wife for several years and their daughter was to sit her Leaving Certificate this June. He said his client was also awaiting a place in residential drug treatment.

Judge Ryan sentenced Hill to seven-and-a-half years in prison after she commented that it had been his second firearm offence and the staff had been violently threatened. She suspended the last 18 months having taken in to account Hill’s efforts to rehabilitate, his plea of guilty and his family circumstances.