Courts / Dublin / Report

Criminal previously given "so many chances" is jailed for hammer robbery of pensioner

Date
2017-01-30

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Tallaght

County
Dublin

Summary

Warren Brennan, 25, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for robbing a 71‑year‑old pensioner at Alderwood Park, Tallaght, on 27 October 2015. Brennan, wearing a motorcycle helmet and armed with a claw hammer, demanded €5,000 from the victim after the man had withdrawn the cash from a bank. When the pensioner refused and called him a "scumbag", Brennan struck him repeatedly with the hammer, punched him, bit his thumb, and then fled with the money. The victim was knocked to the ground, suffered a broken thumb and later reported flashbacks whenever he saw a hammer or helmet. Brennan pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He has 54 prior convictions, including firearms possession, theft, burglary and assault, and was previously jailed for three years in 2011 for an attempted robbery involving a gun. The court noted that Brennan had been given many chances to reform but had not changed his criminal behaviour.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Criminal previously given "so many chances" is jailed for hammer robbery of pensioner. Charges or matters: robbery at Alderwood Park, Tallaght on October 27, 2015; this offence and to resisting a garda on the same occasion. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

October 27, 2015 Incident
December 20, 2014 Incident
2017-01-30 Publication

Case subjects

Unnamed 71-year-old

Defendant

Charges: robbery at Alderwood Park, Tallaght on October 27, 2015; this offence and to resisting a garda on the same occasion (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: By Declan Brennan and Sonya McLean A man who robbed a pensioner and attacked him with a hammer when the victim resisted has been jailed for five years. Judge Murphy imposed consecutive sentences totalling seven years and suspended the final two years on strict conditions.