Man faces 20 years for series of offences

A total of 20 years in consecutive sentences has been imposed on a drug addict who committed seven robberies to pay back a €25,000 debt to "people you don’t want to mess with".

Jason Smith (aged 35), first started abusing drugs when he was 13 years old but has been on a methadone programme since his remand in custody last March.

Smith who robbed €42,000 from seven Dublin premises, also stole his girlfriend’s car which he crashed into the vehicle of a seven-month pregnant woman. Neither the woman nor her unborn child were injured.

Judge Martin Nolan suspended the final 12 years of the prison terms to take into account that Smith had pleaded guilty to all the charges before the court, co-operated with the gardaí in all cases bar one and apologised during interview to his victims.

Judge Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court said he also took into consideration the fact that Smith was under threat by "these people" and was in fear that he would be injured.

Smith of Foxdene Drive, Clondalkin pleaded guilty to seven robberies on various banks and building societies, one charge of producing a knife during the course of a robbery and unlawful taking of a car on a dates between March 16, 2006 and March 27, 2007.

A number of the offences were committed while on bail and he had 41 previous convictions, including an earlier robbery on one premises that was raided during this spree.

Smith raided the seven premises either while armed with a knife, or while a co-accused was carrying a knife. He demanded money from the tills while customers were still in the building.

A knife was held to the throat of an eight month pregnant woman in one case while in another robbery Smith’s co-accused held a knife to customers and threatened to stab them if staff didn’t hand over cash.

Mr Breffni Gordon BL defending, said Smith had a "huge anxiety to obtain money and to obtain it quickly" at the time and committed the crimes "spontaneously, without any kind of professional preparation".

Detective Garda Gavin Ross agreed with Mr Gordon that gardai were satisfied that Smith was under genuine pressure to pay a drug debt to "people you don’t want to mess with".

He accepted that somebody armed with a firearm had arrived at the home Smith shared with his partner and five daughters but said he was not aware that his partner’s car had been burned out.

Garda Barry Hayes said Smith stole his girlfriend’s car from outside her home after they had an argument. When he was forced to pull over on Kilmainham Road to allow a garda patrol car pass him by, gardaí noted that his eyes were half closed and he was sweating.

When they asked him to stop the vehicle he refused and drove off at speed but didn’t get very far after a Nissan Micra coming in the opposite direction blocked his way. He drove directly into this car to try to force it to move before he reversed out of the road.

Gda Hayes said he followed Smith on foot when a civilian stopped his car and offered him a lift. Other gardaí were called in but they soon lost sight of Smith.

He later crashed into the car of a seven month pregnant woman who after seeing Smith driving at speed the wrong way up a one-way street, pulled in to let him pass. He hit the driver’s door of her vehicle twice, the second time when he pulled on to the footpath to drive past.

People passing by the EBS in Dun Laoghaire witnessed Smith’s raid through the front window and after contacting gardai were able to inform them the direction taken by the robbers. Smith was found minutes later carrying the €12,605 raid proceeds in a shopping bag.

Larry Howe (aged 28), of Rossmore Drive, Ballyfermot, Smith’s co-accused in the EBS in Dundrum and Dun Laoghaire, was sentenced last year to eight years by Judge Tony Hunt who suspended the last four years of the sentence on conditions.