Paul Heaney jailed for robbery near Guinness Storehouse

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

Paul Heaney was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 8 March 2021 to four and a half years in prison, with the final nine months suspended on strict conditions. Judge Elma Sheahan passed sentence. The proceedings were reported on 8 March 2021.

Heaney pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted robbery. The offences took place at Long’s Place, Dublin, near the Guinness Storehouse, on 21 October 2019. Heaney and Gareth Mallon robbed an Italian student of €60 and attempted to rob his teacher. Heaney was unarmed; Mallon had a realistic imitation firearm.

Heaney attended a Garda station voluntarily a few days later and told gardaí he had not been involved in planning the robbery. At an earlier sentencing hearing, Garda Cormac O’Donnell agreed with defence counsel Fiona Murphy SC that Heaney had played a lesser role, while saying it was a joint enterprise.

Judge Sheahan said she saw no difference between the men and that they had played similar roles in a joint enterprise. She accepted that Heaney had made efforts to rehabilitate, remain free of illicit substances and reduce his methadone intake. Heaney had 51 previous convictions, including for robbery and attempted robbery.

Mallon had been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for his role the previous December.