A Dublin man who went on a series of violent robberies to finance his drug habit has been sentenced to five years' detention by Judge Kevin Haugh.
John Kinsella (19), of Rathsallagh Drive, Shankill, Co Dublin, who is single and unemployed, pleaded guilty to six counts of robbery on dates between October 11th, 1997 and April 22nd, 1998.
Kinsella had been hacked to within "an inch of his life" and mutilated by another man who is due to appear before the courts soon, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told.
Det Sgt Pat Campbell said the attack on Kinsella had been the closest to murder he had come across. Judge Haugh said: "This spree of robbing shops was very severe and nothing but a `wild binge' in order to feed his drug habit."
He suspended the final 30 months of the sentence.
Det Sgt Campbell told Ms Orla Crowe, prosecuting, that on various occasions Kinsella entered several shops with another masked youth.
They brandished different types of weapons, including a butcher's knife, a baseball bat, a meat cleaver and an iron bar. Det Sgt Campbell told Ms Crowe that on one of these occasions - at 3 p.m. on April 22nd, 1998, - Kinsella and another man entered Village Stores on Old Conna Avenue, Co Dublin, with the intention to rob.
Kinsella was armed with a knife. He said the owner of the shop, Mr David Walsh, confronted the men at the door and tried desperately to protect his shop.
During the confrontation Mr Walsh's wife entered. Kinsella panicked and stabbed Mr Walsh twice in the arm. He required six stitches.
Det Sgt Campbell said on other occasions Kinsella and another accomplice managed to get away with minor amounts of cash up to £350, as well as cigarettes. No one was injured on these occasions. Det Sgt Campbell told Mr Brendan Grehan, defending, that Kinsella had confided in him that since he went on a cocktail of drugs, mainly heroin, his life had gone downhill and he had lost all self-esteem.