Heroin addict jailed for burglaries at church and whiskey museum

A Dublin man who burgled a church, armed with a screwdriver and a scissors, but left empty handed has been jailed for two and a half years.

Robert Hedderman (33) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel on Bachelor's Walk, Dublin 1 on October 7th, 2016.

He also pleaded guilty to burglary at the Irish Whiskey Museum on Grafton Street Lower, Dublin on December 9th, 2016.

Garda Michael O’Donnell told the court Hedderman smashed a glass security panel in a door in order to gain entry to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

When confronted by a church volunteer, Hedderman, of Kilmartin Drive, Tallaght, Dublin said he was there to clean the building, Garda O'Donnell said.

The female church volunteer then asked the defendant to accompany her to an office where she relayed the matter to the parish priest and called the gardaí.

Following his arrest, gardaí found a screwdriver and a scissors on his person, together with numerous keys to the church.

While on bail for this offence, Hedderman carried out a burglary at the Irish Whiskey Museum on Grafton Street on December 9th, 2016.

Garda O’Donnell told Fionnuala O’Sullivan BL, prosecuting, that CCTV showed Hedderman smashing two windows, and stealing €300 cash, items of merchandise and a laptop. The museum was unoccupied at the time.

Garda O’Donnell said tours had to be cancelled resulting in a total monetary loss of €5,273 to the museum.

Kathleen Leader BL, defending, told Judge Martin Nolan the defendant is a heroin addict with a troubled family background and carried out the burglaries in order to support his drug habit.

The court heard Hedderman has 40 previous convictions, eight of which are for burglary.

Sentencing Hedderman, Judge Nolan said he must be given credit for behaving in a compliant way when confronted and subsequently when he was arrested. He said Hedderman’s guilty pleas and his desire to reform were also favourable factors.

However, Judge Nolan described the defendant as a ‘serial offender’ with a considerable record of convictions.

He sentenced him to two years in prison for the burglary at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, and 18 months for the burglary at The Irish Whiskey Museum, with the final year suspended. The sentences will run consecutively, meaning Hedderman was jailed for two and a half years.

“His sentence would have been considerably more if there had been any hint of hostility or violence during the burglaries,” Judge Nolan remarked.