OAP, 92, was easy target, says mugger

A MAN who mugged a 92-year-old neighbour because she was an easy target has been jailed for three years.

James Redmond, 25, told gardaí he owed money to drug dealers and stole from the pensioner, whom he knew by name, because it was easy to do.

Deirdre Tobin had just collected her pension in the local post office and had arrived home at around 3pm. Redmond was waiting for her and grabbed her bag from behind, causing her to fall. He took all the cash that was in her bag and then ran off. Garda Tony Corcoran said the victim was lying on her back when he arrived at the scene.

Gardaí identified Redmond from CCTV footage and arrested him at his home in Dunedin Close, Monkstown Grove, Monkstown, Dublin. He later pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to stealing €487 in cash at Monkstown Grove on March 9 last. Sentencing Redmond yesterday, Judge Melanie Greally said the victim was living on her own and was seen as a soft target. Redmond had gained entry past a security gate because he knew the key code from having done some gardening work there.

The judge noted that Redmond built up the debt not because of an ongoing drug addiction, but as a result of ‘a few benders’ in which he used more drugs than he could pay for. Judge Greally said the mitigating factors were that Redmond co-operated with gardaí and was remorseful, and that the victim’s fall did not appear to be due to any force.