A 22-year-old man who brandished a machete at a garda pursuing him and his uncle from a shop they had just robbed has been sentenced to six years in prison with the final two suspended.
Dean Donovan and his uncle Jonathan Donovan (33) were running to a getaway car when gardaí arrived at the scene. Dean dropped a cash till he was carrying and produced a machete when officers approached as he attempted to get into the car driven by his uncle.
The pair made their escape, but were pursued and arrested.
On Wednesday Jonathan Donovan was sentenced to 6½ years in prison with the final 18 months suspended after the judge acknowledged that he has a more serious criminal convictions than his nephew. He was also disqualified from driving for five years.
Dean and Jonathan Donovan pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery of the Spar shop on Martin’s Road, Chapelizod on April 8th, 2018.
Dean, of no fixed abode, also admitted producing a machete, while Jonathan of O’Devaney Gardens, Dublin, pleaded guilty to driving without insurance on the same occasion.
Dean Donovan further pleaded guilty to six counts of burglary at locations in Dublin in October 2015 and on dates between January and March 2018.
Jonathan Donovan has 83 previous convictions including a six-year sentence with 18 months suspended for assault causing serious harm and production of a weapon. He was on the suspended portion of that sentence, which has since been reactivated, when this robbery was committed.
Dean Donovan has 51 previous convictions for offences including violent disorder, assault, hijacking, burglary, criminal damage and public order offences.
Judge Melanie Greally had previously adjourned the case having first heard the evidence earlier this month.
The judge said she had taken into account the fact that Jonathan had pleaded guilty and had a long-standing addiction and its influence on his offending behaviour.
She said she had also noted the efforts Jonathan had since made to rehabilitate and his difficult childhood. In relation to Dean she took into account his admissions and his age at the time of the crimes.
She also took into consideration his “chaotic and destabilising childhood”, the “associations between his addiction and offending”, his efforts to detoxify and his expression of remorse.
Difficult childhoods
At an earlier hearing Garda Peter Smyth told Dara Hayes, prosecuting, that he and Garda James Keogh were alerted to a robbery in progress at the Spar shop on the date in April, 2018 when €305 was stolen by the thieves.
When Garda Keogh approached Dean he produced a machete and the officer took a step back to avoid being hit by the weapon.
Garda Smyth, who was driving the patrol car, attempted to box in the getaway car but had to take evasive action to avoid a collision as the Opel Corsa sped off up the Knockmaroon road.
Gardaí followed the car and found it abandoned with Dean and Jonathan on the opposite side of the road. Jonathan was held at the scene while Dean climbed over a wall into the Phoenix Park but he was subsequently arrested nearby.
Money was recovered from both men and their DNA was found on the meat cleaver left at the scene.
Garda Niall Godfrey outlined Dean Donovan’s involvement in five burglaries in 2018 in the Dublin 2 and 8 areas. A number of houses were broken into with items including wallets, cash and bank cards taken.
Garda Godfrey agreed with Aidan McCarthy, defending Dean, that his client could not have been more co-operative with the investigation. He agreed Dean was abusing a “myriad of drugs” at the time but said he looked much healthier now.
Mr McCarthy said Dean came from a “horrendous background” with parents who had drug and alcohol addictions. He had gone into care at the age of seven, passing through 59 different foster homes.
Counsel said Dean had “informally” left the care system by running away as a teenager and ended up homeless. He had been drinking daily and abusing drugs during this time. Mr McCarthy said the only “beacon of hope” in Dean’s life was his partner and their young baby.
He said Dean had gone into the system as a child and was now in a different part of the same machinery, incarcerated in the prison system. He asked for some sort of “light at the end of the tunnel”.
He said Dean was hoping to try to make a life for himself and his new family when he gets out.
Karl Monahan, defending Jonathan, said his client had a difficult background, having been in care from the age of eight before starting to abuse substances at 13 and entering the prison system at 15.
He said Jonathan had previously become drug free in custody and had thought he could handle life outside but found himself unable to handle practical matters as he had become institutionalised.
Mr Monahan said Jonathan had suffered a relapse into drug addiction which his client described as “walking off a cliff”. He said Jonathan, who is now drug free in prison again, realised he was running out of time and believed residential treatment was the best option for him.
He said Jonathan was regretful about his involvement in this offence and that he had not stopped his nephew becoming involved.