Two men have been given community service for their role in abducting a recovering addict, driving him around the Dublin mountains and threatening him over his friend’s alleged debt.
Ibrahim Moradi (23) of Birchwood Heights and Adnan Mohamadzadeh (24) of Belgard Square, both in Tallaght pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to falsely imprisoning Roman Bobowicz on June 25th, 2012.
Ibrahim Moradi handed over €1,500 and Mohamadzadeh handed over €2,000 compensation in court for their victim. Both men offered an apology to the victim.
A co-accused Jalal Moradi (24) of Pinelawn, Old Bawn was sentenced last July and ordered to perform 220 hours in lieu of a two and a half year sentence. He had handed over €1,000 compensation on that date and was given 12 months to gather a further €1,000.
The court heard that Mr Bobowicz was falsely imprisoned by the men for up to eight hours, during which time they threatened to cut him up and burn his body if they didn’t get the €2,000 they were owed.
Judge Mary Ellen Ring ordered Ibrahim Moradi and Mohamadzadeh to also perform 220 hours community service in lieu of a two and a half year sentence.
Garda Martina Drew told Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that Mr Bobovicz had gone to collect his methadone from the chemist in Blanchardstown Village at about 5pm.
When he came out of the shop he saw three men from Iraq or Iran that he knew through a mutual friend.
The men told him to jump in their car and said they had something to do but that they would drop him home later. Mr Bobowicz said the atmosphere in the car was friendly as they drove onto the motorway and up to the Dublin Mountains.
The driver said he had to relieve himself and Mr Bobowicz got out to do the same, but when he turned around all three men were standing around him holding knives.
They said, “Stupid Romanian gypsy, we want our f**king money,” and threatened to cut him up. They gave him a phone and told him to ring his friend Florin to get €2,000 from him.
Mr Bobowicz said he was really scared and asked them to let him go. He rang Florin a few times begging him to get the money, and also rang Florin’s mother.
The men also phoned Florin and threatened to cut Mr Bobowicz up and burn his body.
Mr Bobowicz said the men were threatening him all day while they drove around the mountains. At about 8pm, Ibrahim Moradi was dropped off at a campsite in Blessington.
Eventually it was arranged to meet Florin in the carpark of McDonalds in Tallaght at about 1am. The three men were later arrested and made full admissions.
The court heard Adnan Mohamadzadeh said he had only told the victim he would kill him “to scare him”. Mohamazadeh has 11 previous convictions, mostly for road traffic offences. Ibrahim has eight previous convictions.
Paul Greene SC, defending Mohamazadeh, said although his client had threatened Mr Bobovicz he had also reassured him subsequently that they wouldn’t hurt him.
He said Adnan Mohamzadeh was an Iranian Kurd whose family had fled Iran in the 1980s. They settled in Ramadi in Iraq where he was born, but fled there in 2003 when the place was heavily bombed.
The family lived in a refugee camp in Jordan in very basic conditions before coming to Ireland in 2004. He worked in a bakery but has had to leave the job because of illness, although the job remains open to him.
Mohamadzadeh, a father of one, offered an apology to Mr Bobowicz.
Bernard Condon SC, defending Ibrahim Moradi, said his client was “brought along” but that it was “not his enterprise”.
He said Ibrahim had been drinking at the Square in Tallaght with friends getting ready to go camping in Blessington.
He got a call from Adnan Mohamazadeh offering him a lift to Blessington. He said he remembers being there and the others making threats, but cannot remember anything else as he was drunk.
The court heard Ibrahim comes from Iran initially, via Iraq. He lives with his elderly parents in Tallaght and draws social welfare. He offered an apology to the victim.