Polish man robbed woman at ATM

A man charged with robbing a young woman at an ATM in Tralee in early 2012 and later that year with assaulting a garda was yesterday handed down a four-year sentence at Tralee Criminal Court.

Bartosz Lukasz, aged 28, of Castle Street, Tralee, Co Kerry, pleaded guilty to both charges.

The court was previously told that a woman was talking money from an ATM in Ashe St on Jan 7 last year when Lukasz approached her and grabbed her bag and money.

At the time the woman thought she was going to be killed and a Garda witness said there was a considerable amount of violence used.

In relation to the assault on the garda, Det Garda Brian Mackay said gardaí were called to an incident in a house of flats in Lower Castle St where Lukasz and his then girlfriend Bridget Coffey lived.

In July, Det Mackay said when he and Garda Declan Leader were attempting to handcuff Lukasz who had been accused of assaulting another Polish man, Lukasz became violent and aggressive and spat into Garda Leader’s face.

Lukasz’s barrister said that when his client came to Ireland he was working and it was not until the work dried up and most of his friends returned to Poland that he started getting into trouble.

The barrister said Lukasz was “a Jekyll and Hyde type of person” who was very calm and reasonable when sober but changed when he on drugs or drink.

Judge Carroll Moran imposed a four-year sentence for the robbery charge, 18 months suspended dated back to Jul 12 last year. For the assault on the garda he was given three months.