Pair jailed for roles in violent robbery of sex worker

Two men have been sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for their roles in a violent robbery at a hotel in Swords in November 2019. Ioan Galben, aged 40, and Samuel Pop, aged 28, both pleaded guilty to robbery and false imprisonment. The court heard that over €6,000 was taken from a sex worker, along with personal items including phones and jewellery. A third man, now deceased, entered the room during the incident and threatened the victim with a blade. Gardaí identified the suspects through CCTV footage relating to a similar incident in Roscommon in October 2019. Judge Martin Nolan noted a pattern of similar crimes and described the victim as left terrified by the incident. He imposed a sentence of five and a half years on Galben and three years on Pop, finding both men equally culpable despite their different roles.