Five years for ‘evil’ man who robbed tourist at knifepoint
Damien Quinn, aged 34, went onto the streets armed with a knife which he put to the victim’s throat on March 17, 2015.
Quinn, of Shanabooly Avenue, Ballynanty, pleaded guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to robbing the man, who had parked his Mercedes near the city centre.
Quinn and an accomplice jumped into the victim’s car. Quinn, who was in the back seat, put a 7” rusty blade to the victim’s neck and robbed him of €70 and a wifi dongle.
In a victim impact statement, the man described how the robbery had left lasting psychological scars.
The victim wrote: “Since that night, I have lost confidence, while driving late at night or while parking up.”
“I am always in fear of what might happen. Due to my extreme nervousness, I have changed the security system in my car: The doors lock automatically.
“For weeks, afterwards, I suffered from nightmares and now I find I am constantly checking windows and doors to make sure they are locked.”
Judge Tom O’Donnell said Quinn’s behaviour on the night was “premeditated and violent”. “It was extremely frightening for the victim. His victim impact statement underpins the psychological valley he has suffered.”
A probation report stated that Quinn had “a propensity for violence”.
Judge O’Donnell noted Quinn had suffered “outrageous” child abuse “at the hands of others” and that he has “difficulties coping”.
Mark Nicholas, for Quinn, previously told the court he was sent to an institution when he was 13 or 14, where “certain unspeakable things happened to him”. “He bottled it up, didn’t do much schooling, and found himself drinking and drug taking.”
In June 2006, Quinn was jailed for ten years for his part in the shooting of a man outside a christening party in Limerick. At the sentencing hearing, he was described as an “evil, violent criminal”.
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