Courts / Dublin / Report

On bail robber who claimed he was in IRA is jailed

Date
2022-12-08

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin City

County
Dublin

Summary

Sean Doherty, 29, of Rory O'Connor House, Dublin, pleaded guilty to robbery on 7 July 2017 after claiming he was in the IRA. He had 25 prior convictions, including burglary, aggravated burglary, assault, and drug offences. The victim had gone out for drinks, and after a night of drinking, Doherty entered the victim's apartment, threatened him with a knife, and said "I'm in the IRA." He struck the victim twice on the head with an empty vodka bottle, stole his mobile phone, and the victim fled to the balcony. The victim was taken to St James Hospital and received stitches. Doherty was on bail at the time of the offence and was already serving a five‑year sentence. Judge James McCourt, after considering Doherty's guilty plea, mental health issues, apology, remorse, drug dependency and troubled background, sentenced him to four years in prison to run consecutively to his existing sentence.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: On bail robber who claimed he was in IRA is jailed. Charges or matters: robbery on July 7, 2017. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

July 7, 2017 Incident
March 28, 2018 Incident
2022-12-08 Publication

Case subjects

Sean Doherty

Accused

Charges: robbery on July 7, 2017 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Garda Kate Bracken told the court that Doherty was on bail at the time of his offence and is currently serving a five-year prison sentence. After taking into consideration Doherty's guilty plea, his mental health issues, his apology and remorse, his long-term dependency on drugs and his chaotic, troubled and problematic childhood, Judge McCourt reduced the prison term to four years to run consecutively to his current prison sentence.