Teen beat up woman and stole her groceries

A teenager who knocked a woman off her bike, beat her up, and stole her groceries has avoided a jail sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Joseph O’Toole, aged 19, and a co-accused attacked the woman half an hour after they robbed a pensioner on the same stretch of Church Rd, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15.

O’Toole, with an address at The Nurseries, Mulhuddart, pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery on October 19, 2012.

Judge Mary Ellen Ring sentenced O’Toole to three years but suspended it, noting he had taken steps to deal with his drug addiction.

Garda Alan Gordon told Martina Baxter BL, prosecuting, that he had been patrolling Church Road with a colleague on the night when they witnessed the second attack.

O’Toole initially denied both attacks but eventually confessed to hitting the woman and said he felt very bad. “I had no idea what I was doing, I was that drunk,” he said, adding that he had been smoking hash.

He has since successfully graduated from Coolmine Rehabilitation Centre and has been employed since last August.