Stephen Keane remanded ahead of sentencing for robbery and car seizure

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

Stephen Keane pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Court to impersonating a member of An Garda Síochána at BoyleSport on Firhouse Road, unlawfully seizing a vehicle at Firhouse Shopping Centre and robbing Dwan’s Off-Licence at Woodstown Shopping Centre in Ballycullen. The offences occurred on 25 August 2018.

Judge Melanie Greally remanded Keane in custody and adjourned the case for sentencing on 8 July 2019. The proceedings were reported on 12 April 2019.

Garda James Grogan said Keane showed a bookmaker’s manager a badge and claimed to be an undercover garda. He asked for CCTV footage and access to the back of the premises, but the manager refused.

The report said Keane later told a driver outside Firhouse Shopping Centre to get out of his car and said he had a gun. He allowed the driver to remove his dogs before driving away. Keane then pointed a gun at an off-licence employee and stole €395 and three packs of cigarettes.

In a garda interview, Keane said he had a drug debt and that those he owed had threatened his family. He said the gun was a broken airsoft gun and that he had found the garda identification card in a taxi.

Defence counsel Sarah-Jane O’Callaghan said Keane had served in the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan and suffered from PTSD after witnessing a friend being killed by a roadside bomb. She said he had spent a substantial army payout on heroin and crack cocaine.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.