Robber was crying as he demanded money off woman

MAN (32) WAS SPENDING €700 A WEEK ON HEROIN

A robber began crying after he demanded money off a woman while holding a syringe filled with what appeared to be blood, a court has heard.

Gary Finnegan, (32) who the court was told was homeless at the time of the incident,ran after the woman who was walking home around 10pm on the night of July 3, last year.

She said she noticed him as she walked past the Marshes shopping centre as he had an uncapped white syringe behind his ear.

When she looked back he was running after her with the syringe in his hand and it appeared to be filled with blood.

He told her he needed money for a B&B and pointed the syringe at her. She said she only had 50cent but he kept asking for money and said he would use the syringe.

He then started crying and said it was the first time he had done this and he was fed up sleeping on the streets.

She spoke to him and said she would take money out of the ATM for him and they walked to the Mace at Greenacres.

He told her he would pay her back the €50 and she wrote her phone number on a piece of paper. He thanked her and they left.

The court was told she was terrified throughout the incident and he pleaded guilty to the robbery.

Judge Martina Baxter was told that earlier that same day he had seen a woman walking on St Alphonsus Road and he ran past her and grabbed her briefcase and ran towards a church.

She flagged down a passing motorist who pulled in behind Finnegan and he dropped the briefcase.

He was arrested after Gardai were able to identify him from CCTV in the Mace shop.

When arrested he admitted his crimes but said there was a mixture of tomato sauce and water in the syringe to make it look like blood.

He apologised to both woman and told gardai he needed the money for drugs and his heroin habit.

He was sleeping rough at the time and using 1-2 grammes of heroin daily. He was spending €700 a week on it or 6-8 bags a day at €20 a bag.

His defence counsel said he was a brick layer by trade and worked for most of his adult life but at the time of these crimes he was in-between jobs.

He is now working again and is free of drugs having gone cold turkey immediately after these offences.

The investigating Garda said his remorse was evidently genuine and he had been crying on his arrest and during the interview with Gardai.

He brought €750 to court and would bring another €750 for the other woman. In a victim impact statement the woman who had taken €50 from the ATM said, ‘I can still hear you chasing me,’ and said that she no longer goes out after dark.

Judge Baxter was told he has undergone counselling and engaged with the Probation services.

She adjourned sentencing to next January and asked for updated reports on his progress.