Jail for man who hit boy (12) and stole PlayStation

A man who kicked a 12-year-old boy and stole his savings after forcing his way into the child’s home has been jailed.

Justin Murray (38) made sure the child was alone in his Clontarf home before barging in the front door. He made the child help him gather valuables before kicking the boy when he tried to phone for help.

When Murray was arrested a short time later he told gardaí­ he didn’t remember the robbery and only remembered waking up the next day with the child’s PlayStation.

Murray, who has been addicted to various drugs for many years, told gardaí: “It’s not me, it’s the addict in me.”

Murray, of Snowdrop Walk, Darndale, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery in Clontarf on May 26th, 2014.

Judge Martin Nolan said the normal sentence he imposed for a house breaking was two years but that this was a particularly serious offence.

“If it was an ordinary burglary on an unoccupied house that would be one thing. But he terrorised this boy and did strike him,” Judge Nolan said.

He imposed a 3½-year sentence after noting that the robbery left the boy terrified and hysterical. He also took into account Murray’s many previous convictions including 23 for burglary.

Judge Nolan said he accepted Murray was genuinely remorseful and that he probably wouldn’t have committed the offence if he wasn’t on drugs.

Knock on door

Garda Karen Griffin told Fiona Murphy BL, prosecuting, that the boy was playing computer games and chatting to his friend online when he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door to Murray who asked him if his parents or other family were home.

The boy said no and Murray left. He returned a few minutes later and began banging on the door and ringing the bell. When the boy answered Murray pushed past him and asked where the money and valuables were.

The child had been counting out his savings in the kitchen in preparation for going on holiday. Murray took this money before going to the parent’s bedroom. He made the child walk in front of him at all times with his hands visible.

Murray sent the boy into another room to collect valuables. There the boy tried to text his friend for help on a mobile phone but Murray saw him and stopped him.

A short time later he saw the boy with another phone which he knocked out of his hand. He then kicked the child.

Murray asked the boy if his father was a big man who could hurt people. The boy said that he was and that he would be home in 15 minutes. Murray left with the boy’s PlayStation and €125 savings as well as a laptop and some sterling.

The child went into a neighbour’s house and gardaí­ were alerted. The boy later identified Murray on CCTV footage from the area.

Murray accepted during interview that he probably broke into the house but denied hitting the child. He said he wouldn’t have entered the house unless he was invited.

Defence counsel Dean Kelly BL said his client had lived a sad life which had been “pockmarked by very serious and chaotic drug use”.

Mr Kelly said “it’s a story the court hears all the time”. He said Murray left education after primary school and worked only briefly while he was a teenager. He has one child.