A HEROIN addict who threatened robbery victims with a syringe has been jailed for five years. Mark O'Dwyer (25), of Emmet House, Dublin, carried out robberies using a syringe, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Judge Cyril Kelly was told O'Dwyer was a "second generation" addict. The judge said he was now coming across "third generations" of drugs-affected families regularly in court and that he had heard evidence of children starting on drugs as young as nine.
O'Dwyer admitted stealing more than £1,000 from a man who went to telephone his girlfriend at 5 a.m. on the South Circular Road on October 14th, 1995, and £14.24 from a male student outside a pub at 10 p.m. on September 25th, 1995.
Both victims were threatened they would be given AIDS unless they handed over their money. O'Dwyer was arrested from his description after the pub robbery and as a result of confidential information to the Garda. He made statements admitting both crimes.
Mr Patrick Marrinan, defending, said his client had abused drugs for five years and admitted taking drugs in Mountjoy prison where he has been serving another sentence since March 1995. He came from a broken home and was a second-generation product of the Dublin drugs explosion in the 1970s.
Mr Marrinan said O'Dwyer wished to be drug-free while refusing to use the available prison facilities. He had requested to be transferred to Portlaoise prison because he believed the regime there would be better for him in his fight against addiction.
Judge Kelly said O'Dwyer did not seem to have any insight into the seriousness of threatening people with syringes. His refusal to co-operate with urine analysis and other matters left the probation service unable to make a recommendation in his ease.
"Because of all these matters, I have to take the view he is a danger to society on the basis he cannot or will not begin to help himself or engage the services of the professionals to start this process.
"The charge to which he pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. In normal cases I build in a review date. I wish there was some scheme I could adopt to assist him but I have no alternative other than to impose five years on each charge to run concurrently."