A schizophrenic who mugged a woman of €20 as she was withdrawing cash from an ATM had spent three years on remand in custody because of an issue surrounding his fitness to plead to the charge.
Noel Kane (36), Neilstown Park, Clondalkin was remanded in custody after his arrest on October 27th, 2003 by gardaí who stopped him on Dame Street, Dublin, following a report of the robbery on Grafton Street shortly before that.
Judge Michael White at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court described the case as a very tragic one but said that people with mental illness who might have a great predilection to commit crime because of their delusions, frequently came before the courts.
He said that Kane had more than served his time and sentenced him to three and a half years in prison which he deemed as severe.
He ordered that he be transferred in custody by Central Mental Hospital staff to Tallaght hospital where it was hoped he would be admitted under the provision of the mental health legislation. Kane had 20 previous convictions for public order offences, failure to appear, larceny and assault but had never come before the Circuit Criminal Court before this.
Breffni Gordon, defending, said that Kane had robbed the €20 to pay for cannabis. He had been in custody since October 2003 apart from three months when he was granted bail.