A man who wielded a sledgehammer as he took part in the looting of a local supermarket during the blizzards of Storm Emma last year has been jailed for 18 months.
Mohammed Smew (26) was one of a number of people who had broken into the Centra store in Tallaght, Dublin when the shop had shut down in response to extreme weather conditions.
Smew, of Milners Square, Shanowen Road, Santry, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to burglary and the production of a sledgehammer at Kiltalawn on March 2nd, 2018.
Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Melanie Greally said Smew had exploited a dramatic weather event and engaged in behaviour which was “absolutely unacceptable”.
Judge Greally said the Centra had been affected and that the looting had also caused “considerable reputational damage” to the local community in Tallaght.
She said an aggravating factor was the fact that Smew was carrying a sledgehammer which had enormous potential to damage property or persons.
Judge Greally set a headline sentence of four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, but reduced this to a three-year sentence with the final 18 months suspended.
She gave Smew credit for his guilty plea, his lack of any similar or serious previous convictions, his educational history, his expressions of remorse and his commitment to reform and live a pro-social life.
The judge said Smew came from an extremely respectable, pro-social family of well-educated, professional people and that there was nothing in his background to explain his conduct.
“He appears to have simply been caught up in the mob mentality. This was very much an aberrational event for him,” she said.
The court heard that letters and testimonials had been handed in from Smew’s family, friends and from Griffith College where his place on an educational course remains open for him.