Man jailed for role in robbery of taxi driver

A back-seat passenger who held a rope around a taxi driver’s neck as he was robbed at knifepoint by his accomplice in the front has been jailed for two and a half years.

Brendan Boylan, aged 34, claimed he was put under pressure to take part in the robbery to repay a drug debt and was in fear of “getting a bullet or a blade”.

Boylan, of Bangor Rd, Crumlin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery of €600 from a taxi driver at Ballymount Rd on January 22, 2012. He has 16 previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan imposed a two-and-a-half-year sentence. He said given Boylan’s age he would not involve the Probation Service and he would have to “sink or swim” on his own.

The victim handed over €600 before the men left in different directions. The man with the knife cut the taxi driver’s radio machinery before leaving.