A man who delayed the apprehension of a “long-term friend” for robbery by pretending to gardaí that the man had assaulted him has been given a suspended sentence.
Ross Kenny (33) of St Anthony’s Road, Rialto, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assisting an offender in Dolphin’s Barn on December 10th, 2018.
Garda Niamh McGoldrick told Paddy Jackson BL, prosecuting, that Kenny’s friend robbed The Barn House Pub, in Dolphin’s Barn, and gardaí were quick to respond.
The robbery took place just after 3am, after the robber smashed a window using the butt of a rifle. He then used the gun to threaten staff before he robbed two bottles of spirits and €300 in cash.
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Gda McGoldrick said gardaí responded after the staff activated the panic alarm. Kenny was outside the pub. He pretended he had just been assaulted by the suspect and officers stopped to assist him.
Gardaí moved on quickly and were still able to catch the robber. He still had the items he had taken during the raid on him. He was later jailed for four years and six months for the robbery.
It was accepted in court that Kenny didn’t delay the gardaí, and they were still able to catch the suspect.
Gda McGoldrick accepted a suggestion from Conor Devally SC, defending that his client was intoxicated at the time and he had tried to mislead them.
Mr Devally said Kenny’s mother had died when he was 16-years-old, and he had a difficult childhood. Kenny and the robber were described as “long-term friends”, and he had been seen in the man’s company before the raid that night.
Mr Devally said his client had previously worked as a scaffolder. Kenny attended treatment previously to deal with his alcohol addiction.
Judge Martin Nolan said Kenny had assisted his friend “by inconveniencing the gardaí”.
“He was messing. He was very drunk, and it seems he slowed the gardaí down,” the judge said before he added that the Garda still achieved “their objective by arresting the robber”.
Judge Nolan said he believed Kenny’s behaviour was due “to intoxication and not malice” before he imposed a 16-month sentence which he suspended in full.
