Man jailed for string of robberies

By Jessica Magee

A man has been jailed for five years for a string of burglaries of businesses in Dublin during which he ransacked offices and stole expensive equipment.

Craig Ryan (35) of Killarney Court, Killarney Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to five separate bills for offences dating back to 2014.

Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Court on Thursday, Judge Martin Nolan said Ryan has been a “bit of a menace” to society and had caused considerable damage.

Judge Nolan said Ryan had a long history of offending and challenges with addiction but noted that he cooperated with gardaí and that there was no violence involved in the burglaries of unoccupied premises.

“Hopefully, he can change and reform himself, but that’ll be for him,” said the judge.

Ryan has 235 previous convictions, including multiple for theft and 27 for criminal damage.

A series of investigating gardaí gave evidence to Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, starting with the first offence in time in June 2014.

The court heard that the owner of a florist in Monkstown came to work to find that the glass on the front door had been smashed and that €250 had been stolen from the till.

Fingerprints were taken at the scene, but it was not until 2018 that Ryan’s DNA matched the samples found at the florist’s. Ryan was arrested but made no comment to gardaí when interviewed in May 2019.

Garda Thomas Byrne gave evidence of burglaries of two premises within a building on Burgh Quay in Dublin city centre that took place on April 21, 2021.

A photographer from District magazine said the door to his office had been broken with the lock broken off, while desks and shelving areas had been upturned.

A bicycle and number of cameras and lenses were stolen worth a total of €10,750,

Only two of the lenses were recovered, with the rest of the equipment never found.

The offices of two freelance photographers attached to Not Another Model Agency were also disturbed, and laptops and various pieces of expensive camera equipment were stolen.

CCTV showed Ryan and a co-accused, who has taken a trial date, entering and leaving carrying rucksacks of stolen goods.

Most of the items were recovered after camera equipment was advertised online and gardaí met with the seller by appointment.

At the time, Ryan was homeless and on bail for the previous offence.

Garda James Shaughnessy told the court how Ryan stole a car on May 21, 2021, on Strand Street in Dublin’s city centre.

The court heard the motorist accidentally left the keys in his Mercedes when he went into a kebab house on Strand Street in Dublin city centre.

CCTV showed Ryan driving away with an unidentified woman in the passenger seat.

The car was returned undamaged to its owner the following week after it was spotted obstructing Henrietta Place.

On August 1, 2021, gardaí were called to Equity House on Arran Quay to find that burglaries had taken place on each of the three floors of the building.

CCTV showed Ryan at reception ripping a large electrical panel from the wall and using it to break a glass window and gain access to the stairwell.

Occupiers of three businesses gave evidence of offices being ransacked and goods stolen.

An NGO reported a total loss of €1,600, including two laptops worth €500 each and two Canon cameras worth €300 each.

The front door of the Educate Together office was destroyed, and six Macbooks and an iPhone 7 were stolen, resulting in a loss of €9,000.

A solicitors’ office was also upturned, its window and door destroyed, and two laptops were stolen, totalling €1,000.

In total, items of property worth €11,600 were stolen from the building.

The final bill was for trespass and theft of YourStop convenience store, Cabra Road, on May 19, 2023.

Gardaí were on patrol in the area when they heard a hammering sound, and Ryan appeared in the shop window carrying a hammer, which he dropped on seeing the guards.

He began to exit through a ground-floor window with the assistance of gardaí.

He had €200 in coinage on his person taken from the till, mostly in two-euro coins and coppers.

On arrest, Ryan said he’d been hammering at a small safe.

The alarm boxes, the till area and shelving units had been smashed and ransacked.

The floor was covered in stock and documentation, and electronics were hanging from the shelves by their wires.

The shop owner made a victim impact statement listing the damage cost as €3,300.

Ryan was on bail at the time of all these offences, apart from the burglary of the florists in 2014.

He has been in custody since last May.

Karl Monahan BL, defending, said Ryan was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and had significant difficulties in school.

The court heard he began experimenting with drugs and alcohol at 12 and was using benzodiazepines and cannabis daily at 14. He spent much of his teens in custody and started using cocaine at 17 and heroin at 21.

A governor’s report was submitted to the court showing that Ryan is doing well in custody, working in the prison laundry and attending the education unit.

A probation report showed Ryan is remorseful and embarrassed about the impact of his offending on the victims. A letter from the Hope Centre showed that Ryan is willing to engage with treatment services post-release.