A man who was on temporary release when he mugged a visitor to Dublin in a city laneway has been jailed for three years. John Carr (23), with addresses at North Richmond Street and York Street Salvation Army hostel, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assaulting the man, a doctor aged 50 from Greece, with intent to rob him at Stable Lane on September 4th. Carr had 25 previous convictions.
He attacked the doctor while unlawfully at large, having failed to return from temporary release from a four-year sentence for another mugging.
Judge Pat McCartan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court said Carr had seen the doctor reading a map and had lured him into the laneway under the pretence of giving directions. He could not ignore attacks on visitors to the city. It was difficult to prosecute in such cases as the victims were often reluctant to return to give evidence against their attackers.
The judge understood it was the practice of some prisoners to commit a crime on temporary re lease and return to prison to av oid detection or Garda questioning. A suspect serving a sentence cannot be interviewed without consent about another matter.
Sgt Eamonn Murphy said he and a Garda inspector, while on foot patrol, heard screams coming from Stable Lane, off Harcourt Street. He found Carr attacking the doctor, who was on the ground.
The victim was attending a conference at UCD Belfield. He got lost while sightseeing and accepted Carr's offer of help because he had a "friendly face". However, Carr knocked him to the ground, banged his head off the pavement and broke his glasses.
Mr Tom O'Connell, defending, said his client was born in Liverpool and spent most of his youth in institutions there. His family returned to Ireland and Carr spent time in nearly all of the boys' homes in north Dublin.