An addict who owed £200 to a Blanchardstown drugs gang was held by staff when he tried to rob the same shop for the second time in a week, according to evidence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Derek McGuinness was left for dead the following day by members of the gang who almost severed one of his ears with a knife, broke both his jaws with an iron bar, and smashed all his teeth.
McGuinness (29), of Corduff Park, Blanchardstown, pleaded guilty to stealing £420 from the Spar shop in Church Street, Dublin, on October 13th, 1999, and to attempted robbery of the same shop on October 19th, 1999. He also admitted the unauthorised taking of cars on the same dates.
Garda Joe O'Connor agreed in court yesterday with defence counsel, Mr Cormac Quinn, that the gang knew McGuinness was pleading guilty to shop robberies and would be jailed so that he could not then repay the £200 drugs debt to them. Mr Quinn said his client originally owed the gang £1,000 but had reduced the debt to £200. He was under duress from the gang to get the money. He had been left for dead by the gang.
