Doody jailed for falsely imprisoning robbery victim

A man who was shot and beaten as part of a deadly Dublin inner city feud has been jailed for four years for his part in a robbery six years ago.

Darren Doody (aged 42) was part of a gang of four masked men who tied up a woman with a phone charger cable before ransacking her Kildare home for money.

Doody of Oriel Street, Dublin 1 had pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning the victim at Rochford Park in Kill on October 29, 2006. He was found guilty after a three-day trial.

Retired Detective Sergeant Walter O’Connell told Bernard Condon SC, defending, that Doody was shot in 2010 as part of a serious feud in the Sheriff Street area of Dublin city. He said the feud has claimed six lives to date.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Doody was related to the complainant in a rape trial which is at the centre of the feud. Doody and members of his family have been beaten and threatened and shots have been fired at their homes.

Today, the court heard how the robbery victim was getting ready to go out on the night when she heard people running up the stairs.

Four males wearing balaclavas and scarves came into her room and she was either forced to the floor or fell down. She said they were looking for money and “turned the place upside down” and overturned the couches.

One man, armed with a screwdriver, stayed with her for most of the time while the others came in and out of the room.

During the trial the victim told Tara Burns BL, prosecuting, that the men reassured her they were just there to rob and that she would be ok.

The men bound her hands with the cord of a phone charger and tied her legs with a pair of pyjama bottoms as well as putting a shirt over her head. After they fled she got herself free and called her boyfriend and the gardaí.

The court heard that the victim suffered from flashbacks and nightmares for several years after the robbery.

Mr Condon said his client, who has 16 previous convictions, has had no criminal convictions since this incident and was living in under self-imposed house arrest because of the on-going feud.

Judge Patrick McCartan said the crime had a damaging impact on the personal life of the victim and that she was obliged to relive the events during the trial six years later.

He imposed a sentence of seven years but suspended the last three years because of the delay in bringing the matter to trial.