Woman feared for unborn child during robbery, court hears

A pregnant woman feared for her unborn baby’s welfare after she was held at knife point by a convicted killer, a court has heard.

Derek O'Keeffe (39) of Derrypark, Crumlin, Dublin pleaded guilty at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery in three different petrol stations over four days in November 2013.

Judge Patricia Ryan remanded him in custody to next October when she will impose sentence.

His 36 previous convictions include manslaughter, possession of a syringe containing blood, assault causing harm, escape from custody and robbery.

The court heard O'Keeffe stole cash from a Maxol Garage on Tymon Road, Tallaght in Dublin on November 23rd, 2013. Two days later he attempted to rob Discount Fuels on Fortunestown Road in Tallaght and stole cash from a Topaz on Greenhill Road, Tallaght on November 27th.

Over the course of four days O’Keeffe threatened to stab a security guard with a syringe he claimed to have, grabbed a worker and told to him to “open the till or he was dead”. He was finally captured after gardaí chased him over 10 garden walls on November 27th.

Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, told the court that Anna Zajac was working on the till in the Topaz on Greenhill Road when O’Keeffe came up to her holding a 23 inch, jagged-edged knife. He warned her not to press the panic button and forced her to open two tills which he stole cash from.

In her victim impact statement, she said that after the robbery she felt “emotionally destroyed”, was afraid to go home after dark and was concerned for her unborn child after consistent panic attacks.

Garda Simon Whelan gave evidence that gardaí chased O’Keeffe over 10 garden walls before he was tackled and apprehended in a back garden.

Just two days earlier, O’Keeffe told a security guard he had a syringe and threatened to stab the man with it during a failed attempt to rob a sum of money from Discount Fuels on November 25th.

On November 23rd, O’Keeffe was armed with a knife when he grabbed a worker in the Maxol Garage on Tymon Road and told him to “open the till or he was dead”.

O’Keeffe was successfully identified using CCTV footage and DNA samples on items he had handed over to cashiers before he robbed them.

Kieran Kelly BL, defending, told the court that O’Keeffe was heavily addicted to drugs and robbed the cash to pay for them.

He added that two of O’Keeffe’s eight brothers and his mother died in the lead up to the attacks and this tipped him over the edge.