Georgian jailed for armed raid

A Georgian national who was tackled and disarmed of his gun by the owner of the shop he raided has been jailed for seven years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Pakur Pakurian, who has two other aliases and had previously lived in Co Wexford, threatened staff in the shop on Dublin’s Granby Lane with a blank firing pistol which was loaded with bullets capable of firing CS gas.

He succeeded in getting €560 from the till, when Mr Sergiy Savchak, who was in the back office of the shop, witnessed the raid on CCTV cameras.

Garda James King told Mr Vincent Heneghan BL, prosecuting, that Mr Savchak, who had military training, confronted Pakurian and managed to disarm him of his weapon.

He then forced Pakurian to the ground, removed the magazine clip from the pistol and kicked it away. The accused was then held by Mr Savchak and staff from the shop until gardaí arrived.

Gda King accepted that Pakurian had been drunk but said in his opinion he was still aware of what he had been doing.

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Judge Katherine Delahunt told Pakurian that Mr Savchak was "either brave or foolhardy" in the manner he had tackled him. She noted from victim impact reports in relation to Mr Savchak and the other staff that they had made a full recovery and congratulated them on their resilience.

She ordered that Pakurian be deported from Ireland on his release from custody.