Emmet McAuley gets suspended sentence for shop robbery

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

Emmet McAuley received a three-year sentence suspended in full by Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, on strict conditions including payment of €1,000 to the injured party. McAuley pleaded guilty to robbery. The proceedings were reported on 28 June 2016.

The robbery took place at Carry Out Off Licence, Main Street, Celbridge, on 30 May 2015. McAuley had 22 previous convictions. The two robbers escaped with cash and cigarettes, which were recovered.

The court heard that McAuley appeared to have a knife in his hand and repeatedly asked the staff member if he was OK, appearing genuinely concerned. McAuley told gardai he had a plastic McDonald’s knife. Garda Gerard Guinan agreed that CCTV did not make clear what McAuley held, that the staff member had simply thought it was a knife, and that no knife was found.

Judge Martin Nolan noted that there had been no actual violence during the robbery and that McAuley had offered no resistance when the shop owner caught and restrained him.

Garda Gerard Guinan agreed with Garrett Baker BL, defending, that McAuley was cooperative with gardai and fulsome in his admissions. McAuley apologised for his role. Baker said McAuley had turned to drugs following tragic deaths in his family. Counsel said he had completed residential drug treatment and was clean of drugs, and asked that he be allowed to continue his recovery.