A HEROIN addict told gardaí he hijacked a woman's car just after she put her infant child in the vehicle and then tried to rob a pharmacy because he wanted to be put back in prison.
Darren Osbourne (37) allowed the woman to take her three-year-old child out of the car after he pointed an imitation firearm at her while demanding the keys but ran away when he couldn't start the vehicle.
Osbourne also claimed he was in fear of his life. Defence counsel Feargal Kavanagh told Judge Frank O'Donnell at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that his client wished to be placed in the Midlands Prison where he could be put in 24-hour lockup for his own protection.
Mr Kavanagh handed a document into court which he said Osbourne claimed was "a threatening letter" that he received in the post.
Osbourne, of Rushenny Village, Hartstown, pleaded guilty to unlawfully seizing control of a car on the Blakestown Road in Blanchardstown and to attempted robbery and production of an imitation firearm at Blanchardstown Village Pharmacy, on November 24, 2006.
The judge remanded Osbourne on continuing bail and adjourned the case to next month.
Garda Jim McDevitt told Paul Greene, prosecuting, that staff at the pharmacy overpowered Osbourne and his co-accused when they raided the pharmacy wearing scarves over their mouths.
Garda McDevitt said that a student garda who was passing by assisted the staff and held the raiders until help arrived.
Osbourne and his accomplice had hailed down a taxi to bring them to the pharmacy after his failed hijack of the woman's car. He had threatened to shoot her with the fake weapon if she didn't give him the keys, the court heard.
Garda McDevitt said Osbourne had 29 previous convictions involving traffic and theft offences. His co-accused is still awaiting trial.
Garda McDevitt agreed that Osbourne was intoxicated at the time of his arrest and gardaí were not able to interview him for a number of hours.
He accepted Osbourne - "be it deluded or not" - believed his life was in danger from "others" and told gardaí he committed the offences because he wanted to go back into custody.
Garda McDevitt further accepted that Osbourne had taken "small steps" to deal with both his heroin and alcohol addictions.
Mr Kavanagh told the judge that Osbourne was "sorry" for his actions that day.
He said Osbourne was twice involved in serious road traffic accidents that left him with significant head injuries.