Man guilty of robbery attempt

A man who began taking ecstasy tablets and sniffing petrol at the age of six has been jailed for three years for carrying out a violent attempted handbag snatch.

Anthony Dwyer, aged 24, punched Rose Kim repeatedly in the head and grabbed her throat when she refused to let go of her bag.

Dwyer, formerly of Yellow Meadows Ave, Clondalkin, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to attempted robbery at Kilbarrack Rd on May 30, 2013. He also admitted two offences of criminal damage at Howth Junction Dart station on the same date.

Judge Melanie Greally imposed a sentence of three years for the attempted robbery. She also imposed a consecutive sentence of two years for criminal damage of parked cars but she suspended this sentence to leave “light at the end of the tunnell” for Dwyer.

Leo Mulrooney BL, defending, told the court his client’s formative years had been blighted by dysfunction. His aunt took him into foster care when he was three years old and his mother died when he was aged just five. By six, he was sniffing petrol, taking ecstasy and smoking cannabis.

Dwyer’s 47 previous convictions include one for assault and one for robbery.