A Dublin man has been sentenced to two years for robbing over £6,000 from an AIB branch with an imitation firearm five years ago.
Neil Kelly (33) of Clogher Rd pleaded guilty to the robbery of £6,451 from an AIB on Morehampton Road in Donnybrook on December 10th, 1997, while using a handgun he described to gardaí as a "bunged-up old thing from the Boer War".
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard how the defendant was identified by gardaí from video footage of the robbery because his disguise slipped off.
>He shouted at the staff that it was a raid and told them to lie down on the ground. He then jumped the counter and took the cash. He left the bank when a siren sounded and escaped on the back of a motorbike, driven by someone else.
The court heard that gardaí examined video footage of the raid and saw the man's scarf had slipped from his face as he entered the building. The man was identified as the accused when video stills were sent to all Garda stations.
Kelly was arrested and admitted his part in the robbery but left the jurisdiction after he was released. He returned in 2001, using the name Thomas Harrington, but was rearrested in May.
Kelly had received a three-year sentence for robbery in 1993 and also had convictions for larceny and firearm offences.
Judge Yvonne Murphy said the appropriate sentence for this offence was four years but as Kelly has not come to the attention of the gardaí in the past five years, she would give a two-year sentence.
