A former soldier who "discovered" that he had tried to rob his local garage when his friends called him to say he was on RTÉ's Crime Line has been given 220 hours community service in lieu of two years in jail.
David Day (34), Mount Eustace Park, Tyrellstown, north county Dublin, had no recollection of committing the crime and when he went to the Garda station the next day to tell them he was responsible, the gardaí at first thought he was joking.
He persisted and brought them back to his home to give them the clothes he had been wearing that night.
Day, who was working as a taxi driver at the time, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to attempted robbery of the Shell Service Station, Mulhuddart, on March 12th, 2005.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said that although this type of offence normally involved a custodial sentence she was willing to consider community service because it was an "unusual case".
She noted that Day had a "respectable and responsible background" with no previous convictions and had not come to Garda attention since - and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Judge Delahunt said society might be better served by having him do community work instead of being jailed and imposed the community service order in lieu of two years' imprisonment, and ordered that it should be completed within nine months.
The judge told Day that his crime must have had a very frightening effect on his victim to which he replied: "I am very sorry your honour."
Day's counsel told the court her client had been in the Army for five years before he started working as a taxi driver.
Gráinne O'Neill BL, defending, said Day hadn't a drink or drug problem and had no explanation as to how the incident happened.
He had been engaged to be married but the relationship broke up because of the stress of the court case.
Sgt John Carr told Garrett Baker BL, prosecuting, that Day approached the cashier in the Shell garage and told her to open the till.
She refused and he dragged her by the hair when she tried to defend herself.
Day ran out of the shop when a taxi driver came in after hearing the cashier scream for help, while Day continued to drag her and also push her up against a cigarette machine.
Sgt Carr said Day was easily identified on CCTV footage as he was not wearing a disguise.
Day admitted it was him on the footage, but told gardaí that it didn't make any sense because he had no recollection of it at all.