'Addict'' sentenced to five years for crime spree

A drug addict who went on a crime spree for five years, committing 46 offences, has been given a nine-year jail sentence by Judge Yvonne Murphy at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Mark Clifford (aged 30) of Kilmartin Drive, Feathercairn, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to 12 robberies, a number of charges of reckless endangerment and road traffic offences, the unlawful seizure of a BMW and an attempted robbery on dates between September 2000 and March 2005.

Judge Murphy noted that Clifford was a chronic drug addict, which she said had caused many of his problems and motivated many of his crimes.

She said that his crimes left a lot of victims and that during most of the robberies he had used a knife to threaten staff and customers.

She acknowledged that he had made attempts to deal with his drug addiction and had attended for treatment for two years "but unfortunately he returned to drugs and re-offending".

She accepted evidence that Clifford, who had shown remorse for his crimes and to his victims, had been abused as a child before she suspended the last 18 months of the jail term on condition that he liaise with a drug treatment programme on his release from custody.

Garda Damien Wogan told Mr Dominic McGinn BL, prosecuting, that Clifford approached the owner of the BMW as he was getting bags out of his boot in the car park of a B&B. He told the man that this was robbery and demanded the keys to the car after the victim felt something being stuck into his back.

He told him to kneel on the ground while his female co-accused asked him to co-operate or he would be shot. She apologised to the victim and said "this is something people do when they are on drugs".

Clifford wasn’t able to start the car because it was an automatic so he threatened the victim to start it for him before he and his accomplice drove off.

The victim followed after them after seeking the assistance of a nearby taxi driver and gardai were alerted.

Clifford and the woman were later caught on a speed camera after they broke the speed limit in their attempt to escape. They were arrested after being identified through the photograph from the camera.

Clifford admitted to taking the car and said he sold for €500. It was later recovered but €9,000 worth of damage had been caused to it.

Sergeant Rhona Baker said that in another of his series of crimes, Clifford went behind the counter of the service station in Dundrum armed with a knife and demanded money from the till.

The shop assistant "tackled him" and pulled him by the jacket to get him out of the shop. He was later identified on CCTV footage.

Ms Marie Torrens BL, defending, told Judge Murphy that Clifford had been sexually abused as a child and has liaised with the organisation One in Four for assistance in dealing with it. He started taking drugs to try and block out the abuse.

He had also spent some time in the Central Mental Hospital and the case had previously been adjourned to allow for a psychological report.