A man who was caught red-handed by the garda whose house he tried to burgle has been jailed for one year by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Leon Mitchell (24), of Shangan Green, Ballymun, pleaded guilty to burglary from Garda Derek Comiskey's house in Knightswood, Santry, on January 20th, 2003 and to three other burglaries from different houses in the area in December 2002.
The court heard Mitchell had entered Garda Cominskey's house in the afternoon. While he was in the process of stealing various items from the house Garda Comiskey returned home and surprised him.
Mitchell had then attacked Garda Comiskey with what at first appeared to be a knife but turned out to be a screwdriver. He also threatened to infect Garda Comiskey "with the virus".
Garda Comiskey told him he was an off-duty garda and struggled with Mitchell to stop his attack. He managed to phone 999 for assistance, and Mitchell was still struggling with him when other gardaí responded to the emergency call.
Mitchell burgled three houses in the vicinity in the days leading up to his failed attempt at Garda Comiskey's house. He also broke into a house where the 89-year-old woman who lived alone there chased him out.
Judge Desmond Hogan imposed a two-year sentence on Mitchell but suspended the last one year of the sentence.
He took into account submissions made by Mitchell's counsel that he had been a drug addict at the time, attempting to deal with a major personal tragedy.