Jail for man who took Dublin Bus and later committed robbery

A drug addict who briefly drove a Dublin Bus after assaulting the driver and later committed a robbery has been given a three-and-a-half-year sentence.

Mark Dwyer (34) became angry at the bus driver after missing his stop and after an altercation on the street with him he got back on the bus which moved a short distance at five to 10 miles per hour until two passengers brought it to a stop when Dwyer jumped off.

Some months later Dwyer, while on bail, took part in the robbery of a Centra.

Dwyer, of Dolphin House, Rialto, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Mr Xiang Yu Zhu and endangerment at Cork Street on January 10, 2009 and robbery at Centra, South Circular Road on March 3, 2009.

Judge Donagh McDonagh said the experience must have been “astonishingly frightening” for the driver but said the endangerment was at the lower end of the scale. He imposed consecutive sentences totalling three and a half years.

Garda Kevin Molyneux told Mr James Dwyer BL, prosecuting, that Mr Xiang Yu Zhu was driving the 56a bus from Tallaght to Ringsend when he stopped to pick up a man and woman at Dolphins Barn.

As he drove up Cork Street he heard the man and woman shouting: “You did not stop.” He told them he could not stop between stops and that they had not rung the bell. The pair started shouting “Chinese pr**k” and other racist remarks.

The driver stopped the bus and asked them to get off. The man, Dwyer, screamed into his face and spat at him before walking off the bus. The driver put the bus into neutral, got off and tried to grab Dwyer to hold for gardaí.

Mr Xiang Yu Zhu was attacked by Dwyer and the woman, he was punched to the face, his jumper was ripped in half and he suffered injuries to his hand as he put it up to defend himself. Two passengers intervened to protect him and he rang gardaí.

Dwyer jumped on the bus, the driver heard the engine rev and the bus moved off with passengers still on the bus. The two passengers ran after the bus and when Dwyer jumped off, one of them was able to get on and bring it to a stop.

A woman on the bus described it being driven for about 20 yards at five to 10 miles per hour before Dwyer jumped off and it continued rolling down the hill.

Gda Molyneux said he was on patrol in the area and came upon Dwyer who shouted “It was me.” He said he had shouted at the driver when he did not stop and the driver had attacked him, he said he had got into the driver’s box and it started to roll off.

During garda interview he said he had been pressing buttons in the driver’s box and tried to stop the bus and as he got off the bus he told the other passengers to stop it. He agreed there had been a row but said he had been acting in self defence. He apologised to all concerned.

In his victim impact statement, parts of which were read to the court, Mr Xiang Yu Zhu said he suffered post traumatic stress as a result of the incident and was off work for over a year.

Dwyer has 80 previous convictions for offences including criminal damage, assault, and theft, as well as for drugs, public order and road traffic offences. He was disqualified from driving for 25 years at the time of the offence.

Gda Molyneux agreed with Mr Eoin Hardiman BL, defending, that witnesses describe both men throwing punches. He said the bus moved about 150 metres at between five and 10 miles per hour.

Garda Michael Martin told Ms Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, that on March 3, 2009 Dwyer and a co-accused, who had what looked like a gun, took part in a robbery at Centra on South Circular Road.

The men were identified on CCTV and Dwyer told gardaí that he had taken alcohol and drugs and everything was a blur. He accepted the man on CCTV looked like him.

Gda Martin agreed with Mr Hardiman that Dwyer was not the ringleader and had not been doing any threatening or shouting.

Mr Hardiman said Dwyer had left school at 15 years old and heroin had blighted his life resulting in him going in and out of custody. He said the last two years he had spent in custody since the robbery was the longest he had been drug free.

He said he knows he will serve a sentence but had been using his time in custody well completing courses.