Post-office robber jailed for seven and half years

A former drug addict who held a knife to the throat of an elderly woman during a post office robbery has been given a seven-and-a-half year sentence by Judge Tony Hunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Paul Bradley (aged 29), who has 81 previous convictions, had begged Judge Hunt last January when the evidence was heard not to send him to Mountjoy Prison where he said he “would not stand a chance” because it was “destroyed with drugs”. He had been released from a previous sentence just before Christmas.

Defence counsel, Mr Luigi Rea BL, today told Judge Hunt that Bradley, who had a football trial for Nottingham Forest as a teenager, had been drug free in Cloverhill Prison since going into custody in January apart from “one slip-up”.

Bradley, of Thomas Court Bawn, Pimlico pleaded guilty to robbery and producing a knife at Parkgate Street Post Office on April 30, 2008. He had asked a taxi driver, who was totally unaware of the offence, to wait for him before he carried out the robbery and used this as a means of escape.

Judge Hunt said it was the time for Bradley to decide what he wanted to do with the rest of his life and suggested he focus his energies on putting his football skills to use with young people in his community on his release.

He noted Bradley’s “small telephone book” of convictions and the violence of the offence. He noted gardaí had searched through 3,000 taxi drivers to find the man who had unwittingly brought Bradley from the scene.

Judge Hunt imposed a seven-and-a-half year sentence but suspended the final two and a half years on conditions.

Detective Garda Frank Treacy told Mr Damien Colgan BL, prosecuting, that the elderly woman was waiting in line at the post office after lunch to pay some bills.

He said while she was being dealt with at the counter Bradley grabbed her from behind and restrained the 60-year-old woman with his left arm and held a knife to her throat with his right hand.

Bradley told the staff member: “Give me the money or I will slit her throat.”

The staff member took money from the till and passed it to Bradley before pressing the panic button when he left.

He escaped with about €200 but was later arrested after garda viewed CCTV of the incident in which he was clearly identifiable.

The staff member said in her victim impact statement: “What frightened me most of all was how one of my customers was used.” She wondered if Bradley would have used the knife if she was slower to hand over the money.

The elderly woman outlined in her victim impact statement that she was “strong and determined” and tried not to let the offence affect her. She said that she was more conscious of who was behind her when she waited in line and was careful about taking out money in public.

Det garda Treacy said that during interview Bradley answered 108 out of 117 questions with “no comment“. He pleaded guilty after gardai found and took a statement from the unwitting taxi driver.

Mr Rea said Bradley had gone to Nottingham Forest Football Club for a trial as a teenager in 1996 but it came to nothing and he returned to Ireland. He then began dabbling in drugs aged 15 or 16 and moved onto heroin and cocaine use. He then started to get into trouble with the gardaí.