Teen jailed for cyclist robbery

A Dublin teenager who was part of a gang that tried to rob a cyclist after hitting him over the head with the lock for his bike has been given four years' detention for this and other offences.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also jumped into the car of a woman who had been delivering takeaways and knocked her to the ground with the vehicle's door before he drove over her leg.

He had also been involved in the robbery of a man who was set upon by a group of five after he got off the Luas. The man was bitten on the hand when he tried to hold onto the mobile phone the gang demanded from him.

Four days later he robbed another man on the Luas after he and two other youths sat down beside the victim and pulled at the headphones of his MP3 player. They then attacked and punched him before they chased after him and stole his stereo.

The teenager pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to attempted robbery, two charges of robbery, the unlawful taking of a vehicle and reckless endangerment on dates between December 11, 2007 and August 11, 2008. His 20 previous convictions included theft, threats to kill and drug offences.

Judge Frank O'Donnell noted from victim impact reports that the cyclist needed 14 stitches to his head and the woman was left in severe pain although no bones were broken in her leg. Another victim had two badly swollen eyes.

He accepted evidence from the boy's mother that he had been diagnosed with attention deficient disorder and was sent to a detention school at the age of 12 when he first started going out of control.

Judge O'Donnell said that a probation report before the court indicated that the boy did not want to become a habitual offender but was assessed as being at "a high risk of re-offending".

"Your behaviour reflects a man criminalised from a young age," Judge O'Donnell said before he noted that in the past when the teenager had been in the community he had failed to co-operate with the probation service. He suspended the last year of the sentence on strict conditions.