A prostitute who robbed an American tourist after threatening her with a syringe has been jailed for 5 1/2 years. Lynn Gill befriended Ms Edie Dillow before offering to help find cheap accommodation in Dublin city centre. She went with Dillow to an Internet cafe and stayed with her while she checked her e-mail. She later stole £270 from her but returned £40 after Ms Dillow pleaded that she had no money for her holiday.
Gill also held a knife to a French woman four days earlier. Gill (25), of James Larkin House, North Strand, Dublin, pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and assault at Baggot Street on May 6th, 1999, and to robbery at Gardiner Street on May 10th, 1999.
Garda Kevin McGettigan said Ms Dillow was frightened after the robbery and returned to the US immediately. Garda Phil O'Carroll said Gill had earlier held a knife to the body of a French woman in Baggot Street.
A man had asked if everything was all right and the victim said she was being robbed. Gill grabbed the man's tie and tried to hit him before she ran off. Gill told gardai she had been attacked earlier that night by two men who "hassled" her for money. They had also watched her attempt to rob the French woman.
She said she had the knife for protection because she had been attacked. Judge Elizabeth Dunne noted that Gill had a drug problem but was trying to rehabilitate. She said she would review the case on January 15th.