A man who was part of a gang of hooded men interrupted by a garda as they were robbing a Dublin petrol station at gunpoint has been jailed for seven years.
Jonathan Coyle, of St Donagh's Park, Donaghmede, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving in a public place; stealing a car on April 17th, 2001; and robbery of £180 from the salesgirl at the Esso station in Kilbarrack on December 15th, 2001.
Detective Garda Martin Griffin said he happened to arrive at the scene of the robbery in Kilbarrack by coincidence and saw four hooded men inside.
One of them was holding a gun to the salesgirl's head and demanding that she open the till. Det Gda Griffin, who was armed, had to draw his gun and ask him to drop his weapon.
Det Gda Griffin said the armed man was slow to respond. When he eventually dropped the weapon, Det Gda Griffin was able to wrestle three of the men, including Coyle, to the ground. One of the men fled but the other three were arrested.
Gardaí later discovered that the "gun" was a cigarette lighter. Judge Frank O'Donnell remarked that there was no way the victim or gardaí could have known this at the time the weapon was being used.
Garda Michael Leonard said Coyle drove a stolen car into a tree in Howth early in the morning on April 17th, 2001.
Judge O'Donnell noted that Coyle had 27 previous convictions and described him as having "studiously ignored" all laws in relation to road traffic. He also noted that Coyle had been on bail for the offence of dangerous driving when he participated in the robbery.
Judge O'Donnell sentenced Coyle consecutively to four years for the robbery and three years for dangerous driving. He conditionally suspended the last three years of the sentence.