A man described by his defence counsel as "Dublin's politest bank robber" and who took more than €50,000 from various banks over a six-month period when he was addicted to crack cocaine has been jailed for four years by Judge Desmond Hogan.
John O'Hegarty (33), of Waterloo Road, Ballsbridge has a diploma in journalism, a degree in philosophy and a masters degree in psychoanalytic studies from Trinity College Dublin. He became addicted to crack cocaine after a man he knocked down with his bicycle died.
O'Hegarty pleaded guilty to 13 counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery, and 14 counts of possessing an imitation firearm between March 7th, 2004 and October 14th, 2004 at various banks in the Ballsbridge, Ranelagh and Stillorgan areas.
He also pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two further counts of robbery at a newsagents in Kilmacud and at the National Irish Bank in Stillorgan on December 5th and December 10th, 2004 respectively. Judge Hogan sentenced O'Hegarty to two years concurrently for each robbery committed up to October 2004, and for a further two years consecutively for the two latter robberies.
Considering his circumstances and the efforts he is making to overcome his drug addiction, Judge Hogan suspended the final 18 months. The sentence was backdated to December 2004.
Defence barrister Remy Farrell told Judge Hogan that O'Hegarty was running his own courier business until the accident on September 23th, 2003. While cycling on the wrong side of a road, he hit a pedestrian who fell down on the ground but refused help from O'Hegarty and seemed generally all right.
However, the pedestrian died later, which led to intense and adverse media coverage of couriers, Mr Farrell said. The publicity and the guilt he felt affected O'Hegarty greatly and his addiction to drugs developed.
Garda Paul Moody told Bernard Condon BL, prosecuting, that O'Hegarty entered the banks in various guises - as a builder or a courier - and would join the queue. He always had a newspaper folded over his hand under which the imitation gun was concealed. When it was his turn at the counter he showed the gun to the teller and demanded money.
Garda Moody said O'Hegarty did not use the usual "foul or abusive language" heard at bank robberies but would tell the clerk to put the money into a bag. Sometimes he never spoke a word, just showed the gun and gave his bag to the teller.
He was arrested on October 14th, 2004 outside the Ulster Bank in Ranelagh as he was leaving with €1,960. He was co-operative with gardaí but two months later his addiction relapsed and he robbed the NIB in Stillorgan and the newsagents in Kilmacud in a similar manner before being re-arrested.