Man stole car with two young children in back for use as getaway vehicle

A man who stole a car with two young children sitting in the back and then went onto to use the vehicle as a getaway car in an attempted robbery has been jailed for four years.

Aaron Gilsenan (42) was intoxicated when he first tried to rob from a shop. He fled without taking anything and jumped into a car left outside by the owner with the keys in the ignition and his four- and six-year-old children sitting in it.

The man left the car for a few minutes while getting groceries in a nearby shop. When he realised his car had been stolen, he ran back into the shop and the sales assistant immediately contacted gardaí.

Garda Amy Morrissey told Monika Leech BL, prosecuting, that gardaí put out an alert and the car was stopped 2km away. The children were in the car unharmed. When officers questioned Gilsenan in relation to the children, he told them he did not know who they were.

With immigration, there is a sort of hierarchy of belonging

---

‘I don’t think the West really understands’: A Ukrainian writer on his journey from torture camp to the front line

---

Our national supercomputer is gone, and the global scientific community is laughing at us

---

Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft review – Her third album is not quite a genre bender, but this star is growing in sophistication

---

Asked for money

Garda Morrissey said the children were reunited with their father after about 10 minutes. One of the children was heard to say that Gilsenan had only asked them if they had any money.

Gilsenan tried to rob a nail salon while he had the car. He was not successful but pulled the cash register in attempt to take it, causing damage. He left the children in the car when he ran into the salon and made his getaway in the vehicle afterwards.

Gilsenan, of St Mark’s Gardens, Clondalkin, came forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court. Those charges included abduction, stealing a car, two charges of attempted robbery on the Ninth Lock Road and Collinstown Road, both in Clondalkin, and a charge of criminal damage in relation to the cash register at the salon on May 30th last. He has 93 previous convictions and has been on remand in custody since his arrest last May.

‘Utter disgrace’

Judge Martin Nolan said Gilsenan knew the children were in the car and it was to his “utter disgrace” that he did not return them to safety. He acknowledged that Gilsenan has longstanding addiction issues, had built up a drug debt and was attempting to rob in order to get money to clear that debt.

Judge Nolan jailed Gilsenan for four years on the first charge of attempted robbery, taking the other charges into consideration.

Garda Morrissey agreed with Simon Matthews BL, defending, that there was no garda chase and Gilsenan caused no difficulty to officers when they found him and the children in the car. She further agreed that he was “heavily under the influence at the time” and has indicated his remorse.