Remorseful robber surrenders to gardaí

A Lucan man who handed himself into a garda station two days after robbing a shop because the offence had “bothered” him so much will be sentenced later at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Mark Ward (aged 26) turned up at Harcourt Terrace garda station to say he was handing himself in after robbing a Spar shop on South Richmond Street.

Garda Laura Byrne revealed that Ward told a colleague the robbery had bothered him because he had committed the offence armed with what he claimed was a clear handle screwdriver.

Ward, of Abbeywood Court, pleaded guilty to robbing €270 cash from the South Richmond Street Spar on June 14, 2009 and to robbing €300 cash from a Finglas Xtra-Vision on May 27, 2009.

He has seven previous convictions for robbery and public order offences.

Gda Byrne told Ms Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that the Pakistani cashier in Spar told gardaí Ward had threatened him with a syringe to make him open the till, but Ward was “adamant” he had used a screwdriver.

Gda Byrne said the cashier, who has since returned to Pakistan, followed the raider as far as Portobello Bridge after the robbery and saw him get into a taxi.

Ward later told gardaí he had spent the cash takings on a cab and four bags of heroin and that he was sorry for putting the Spar worker in fear.

Gda Byrne agreed with Ms Marie Torrens BL, defending, that her client had not been identified from CCTV stills taken from the shop before he handed himself in.

She further agreed that the original sentence date for this case had been adjourned because Ward was in the Central Mental Hospital at the time.

Detective Garda Maureen Munally told Ms Small that she arrested Ward while he was on remand in Cloverhill Prison after nominating him as a suspect for the Xtra-Vision robbery following his admissions to the similar offence at Spar.

She said he had threatened the lone Xtra-Vision staff member with a syringe and Stanley blade before taking off with €300 from the till.

She agreed with Ms Torrens that Ward did not answer any questions about this robbery after arrest because he said he could not recall the incident.

Judge Desmond Hogan adjourned sentencing till next year pending a probation and welfare report.