Dublin 7 man who sold stolen goods given suspended sentence

By Fiona Ferguson and Claire Henry

A man who sold a valuable piece of stolen recording equipment he came into possession of for €50 has been given a suspended sentence.

Nathan Robinson (30) of Dunard Avenue, Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin 7, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of stolen property, namely a Live U600 Electronic transmission device in Fairview, on January 24, 2023.

Passing sentence, Judge Martin Nolan said it seems this defendant knew where to go with the equipment, and he got €50 for it.

Judge Nolan said the shop had CCTV footage, and this defendant was identified. He noted that Robinson has a good history of offending and some of his convictions are relevant.

Judge Nolan sentenced Robinson to 20 months in prison but suspended it in full.

Garda Conor Flynn told Maddie Grant BL, prosecuting, that a piece of recording equipment was stolen from the car of an RTE camera man working at the Criminal Courts of Justice.

The equipment was valued at €25,000. The item had an Apple air tag attached and gardai were able to track it to a electronic hardware store in Dublin. The shop owner told gardai it had been brought there by two people.

Gardai viewed CCTV and identified the accused man going into the store, opening a rucksack and taking out the piece of equipment. Approximately €50 was exchanged.

Robinson, who has previous convictions for burglary, handling stolen property and possession of stolen property, admitted having possession of the stolen equipment.

Gda Flynn said a search warrant was obtained for Robinson’s home, and items of clothing matching what was seen on CCTV footage were seized. He was arrested on January 27, 2023 and made some admissions during interview. There was no victim impact statement before the court.

Gda Flynn agreed with Aoife O’Leary, BL, defending, that her client had no idea of the item’s worth when he went into the shop. He also agreed that the items have been returned to RTE.

The garda agreed with counsel that Robinson had a drug addiction and had gone on a binge. He also agreed that he was co-operative with gardai.

Ms O’Leary handed letters from family members of Robinson into the court. She also handed in a letter of apology from Robinson.

Counsel said her client has not come to garda attention in the past two years.

She asked the court to consider a suspended sentence.