Dean Gray pleads guilty to Dublin shop robberies and attempted robbery

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Dean Gray came forward on signed guilty pleas at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robberies and related offences, including an attempted robbery. The proceedings were reported on 26 October 2018. Judge Patricia Ryan put the matter back until late November, with sentencing pending.

Gray pleaded guilty to robbery and producing a knife at XL Fintstones in Baldoyle on 21 May 2017. Detective Garda Darren Burke said Gray took €350 and returned to a waiting taxi, handing the driver €70 for a €64 fare. Burke said the driver had unwittingly taken Gray to the scene.

He also pleaded guilty to robbing €425 with a screwdriver from Petmania in Northwood on 17 March 2018. He pleaded guilty to robbing €200 from Tan Me on New Cabra Road on 12 March 2018 and €300 from the same salon on 10 April 2018.

His further guilty pleas covered the robbery of €200 from Centz on North Circular Road on 14 March 2018 and the attempted robbery, threats to kill and production of an article at Spar in Harts Corner on 10 April 2018. Garda Deirdre Gill said the second Tan Me robbery took place 10 minutes after the failed Spar raid.

The court heard Gray had 69 previous convictions, including 21 robberies and four burglaries. Garda Gill and Detective Garda Burke agreed with defence counsel Karl Monaghan that Gray had not tried to conceal his face in the shop CCTV footage. They accepted that he had a drug addiction and was robbing to feed it. Monaghan said Gray had a difficult upbringing and was caught in a cycle of homelessness, drug abuse and crime; he wanted employment and residential treatment.