Ronald Emmett jailed for EBS robbery and imitation gun

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

Ronald Emmett was sentenced to four years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, with the final two years suspended, for robbery and possession of a realistic imitation firearm. He pleaded guilty to both offences. The proceedings were reported on 25 March 2015. The robbery took place at an EBS branch in Killiney, Dublin, where €153.59 was stolen.

The sentence was consecutive to a five-year term Emmett was already serving. Judge Mary Ellen Ring suspended the final two years after noting his intention to become drug-free. She praised Garda Martin Egan for pursuing him and manager Barry O'Brien for protecting staff and customers during the raid.

Giving evidence in his defence, Emmett claimed he had been “practically set up” and told there would be at least €30,000 in the branch. He said he needed money for his addiction and described the robbery as an act of desperation. He told the court he was on methadone and attempting to deal with his addiction.

Garda Martin Egan agreed with Carol Doherty BL, defending, that nobody was physically injured and that he had arrived very quickly. He accepted that it was “not the most sophisticated crime” and that Emmett had dropped a bag of coins during their struggle.