18-year-old Schoolboy violently attacked elderly delivery man

A schoolboy who violently attacked and robbed an elderly delivery man may be given a suspended sentence, a court has heard.

Defence barrister Cathal McGreal BL described Jabari Crichlow’s crime as ‘a disgraceful act’ and said the teenager (18) does not deny that fact.

‘It is not lost on him that what he did was an appalling act of violence on a defenceless man who was trying to earn a bit of money after his retirement,’ Mr McGreal defending told Judge Melanie Greally.

The victim, a retired 66-year-old man, was delivering food to a Dublin housing estate when he was attacked by Crichlow and his then 16-year-old accomplice.

Crichlow, of Rivervale Park, Dunleer, Co Louth, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery at Deerhaven Avenue, Clonee, Dublin, on November 2, 2017.

His co-accused, who is still a minor and cannot be named for that reason, is due for sentence next July.

Judge Greally previously indicated that she may give this youth a four year suspended sentence.

Last Monday Judge Greally placed Crichlow on a 12 month probation bond and adjourned the case to November next year.

She ordered a report from The Probation Service for that date and said he must engage with the service and not commit further crimes. The judge said she would suspend a sentence on the next date if there is a favourable probation report.

Judge Greally said it was a very violent offence and added that had Crichlow been an adult at the time, he would ‘undoubtedly get a prison sentence’.

Garda Mark Doyle told Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that when the victim arrived at the delivery address, he found no lights on at the house.

He was getting back into his car when he was approached by Crichlow and the other youth who claimed they had ordered the food. The other teenager pushed the car door into the man’s face and when he fell to the ground, kicked him straight into the nose.

The injured party told gardaí that Crichlow also then kicked him in the face, and ‘ things went blurry and blood burst everywhere’.

The delivery man said the two youths kept kicking and punching blows to his head while he screamed for help and thought he would be killed.

His satchel was ripped off him containing about €30 and his glasses, worth €200, were broken. Two young girls arrived and fetched help and the two attackers then fled the scene.

The court heard one of the young women later identified the accused men in a chipper and they were arrested.

A victim impact statement was read out stating that the man had been out of work for over a month, which cost him over €1,000 in lost income.

The court heard the man had suffered a broken nose, concussion and chipped teeth and that although his physical injuries had since cleared, he still gets headaches from stress brought about by the attack.

The man said he could not continue to work as he was afraid of a similar attack, and that he still gets nervous passing groups of people and cannot stay out after dark.

Gda Doyle said Crichlow claimed during a subsequent garda interview that the victim had told him and his friend to show him the money for the food before he pulled something from his pocket and started swinging at him. Crichlow said it was at this point that he rushed in at the man.

He accepted that he hit him and suggested that drops of blood on his runners were from blood dripping from the victim’s face. He denied kicking him in the face. Gda Doyle confirmed that the victim’s DNA profile was found in the blood staining on Crichlow’s shoes.

Mr McGreal handed in a letter of apology that Crichlow had written for the victim. He described it as ‘a disgraceful act’ and his client does not deny that fact.

Mr McGreal said that Crichlow was a schoolboy at the time of his arrest and was accompanied by his mother during garda interview. His mother is a psychiatric nurse and counsel said his behaviour was not condoned at home.

He said Crichlow had since moved from the area, had not come to garda attention and was attending a building technology course local to his home. He hopes to get an apprenticeship in the construction industry.