A former seaman who brandished a syringe and used the threat of Aids to rob shops has been jailed for six years. John O'Brien (34), of no fixed address, a father of one, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of robberies on shops and students in Dublin city centre. His sentence is to be reviewed in April 1999 by Judge Joseph Mathews at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The court heard that in 1992 O'Brien was given a three-and-a-half years suspended sentence for a drugs offence to allow him to continue treatment for his heroin addiction in the Coolmine Therapuetic Community. Mr George Birmingham, defending, said O'Brien did well in Coolmine and was released into the community to continue the programme through outpatient visits to Trinity Court. However, as a result of a domestic situation he crashed spectacularly and returned to heroin.