Jail for thief who failed to see consequence of robbing clairvoyant’s

A man with a “chronic addiction to heroin” has been jailed for robbing a clairvoyant’s premises after the judge said the “court had exhausted all options other than custody”.

Dublin men Paul O’Brien (36) and Niall Sheil (40) robbed cash, purses and phones from the clairvoyant and her customers. O’Brien had entered first and told staff he wished to make an appointment before Sheil came in armed with a steel bar.

O’Brien of Williams Place South, and Sheil of Buckingham Street, both pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of robbery at Dympna’s Clairvoyant, Cromwellsfort Road, Walkinstown on January 6th, 2015.

Judge Melanie Greally first heard evidence in the case in October 2015 when Sheil received a four-year suspended sentence.

She had adjourned O’Brien’s case on several occasions, after hearing evidence, to allow him get treatment for drug addiction.

However, on Wednesday she said O’Brien had been “hanging on by a thread in terms of his liberty. But he had not managed to sustain any real commitment to his rehabilitation.”

“The inevitable has happened and he has relapsed,” said the judge after noting that O’Brien has been charged with further offences after going back on drugs.

“The court has exhausted all options other than custody,” said the judge.

Dean Kelly, defending, O’Brien asked the court to consider giving his client another chance to remedy his addiction. “He has expressed his confidence that if he was given a short amount of time he would be able to restabilise,” said counsel.

The judge replied that Mr Kelly had previously made “heroic efforts to persuade the court” that O’Brien was worth a chance. But “unfortunately he has not played his part. He has reached the end of the line in terms of the court’s credence.” She sentenced O’Brien to four years in prison with the final 12 months suspended.

Scene of the crime

At the sentence hearing in 2015, Garda Robert Leahy said that at the time there were two staff members and two customers in the premises which is above a pet shop.

O’Brien came in after expressing a wish to make an appointment and said he didn’t want to hurt anyone. He demanded money and he and Sheil robbed cash, purses and phones. A staff member managed to alert people in the pet shop below who chased after the two thieves.

Garda Leahy and a colleague came upon the chase and arrested both men. Sheil had been observed dropping items as he ran. Everything was recovered apart from €400 taken from reception.

The four women who were victims of the robbery declined to give victim impact statements.

Sheil told gardaí­ he had taken tablets and the whole thing was a haze. He said it was not normally something he would do but had joined in and thought there would be “a few pounds in it”.

He has 18 previous convictions mainly for theft, road traffic and drugs offences. He has no previous convictions for robbery or violence.

O’Brien has 20 previous convictions but also has no convictions for violent crimes.