A MAN is to be sentenced at a later date for a post office robbery in Firhouse, Dublin, during which a a knife was held to a customer’s neck.
Ian Quinn’s accomplice held the blade to the throat of a woman who was collecting her social welfare and threatened to “slit” her if the postmaster didn’t hand over all the money. Both men fled but were caught nearby after a chase involving the Garda helicopter.
Quinn (30) was given a 10-year sentence in 2002 for his role in an attempted bank robbery in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, during which Sgt Seán Eiffe was fatally shot by other gardaí. Quinn robbed the post office several months after his release.
Quinn told the court he spent most of his teens and twenties in prison and has become institutionalised. He told Judge Patricia Ryan he was unable to cope outside prison and had become a drug addict. Rosemary Quinn, his mother, asked for a court order to get her son treatment.
Quinn, of New Seskin, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery at Firhouse Post Office on January 22nd, 2010. His accomplice was not before the court.
The judge adjourned sentencing until October and ordered a probation report be prepared. Quinn has 32 previous convictions and is serving a six-month sentence, due to expire in October.
Garda Christopher O’Leary told James Dwyer, prosecuting, that Quinn and his co-accused entered the post office with their faces covered. A woman was grabbed from behind by Quinn’s accomplice who held a knife to her throat.
He told the postmaster to “hand over the f***ing money or I’ll slit her”. The postmaster handed over all the cash. The raiders took another €150, which a customer had put on the counter to pay for a TV licence, before they fled. They stole €2,810 in total.
Several witnesses followed the raiders and saw them escape in a blue Mercedes. The Garda helicopter followed and saw the car pull up outside a house where two men and a woman got out.
The men entered the house and ran from the rear. Gardaí in the helicopter saw them discarding objects before officers on the ground caught up with them.
Quinn was arrested and interviewed five times, but denied having any part in the raid. He later entered a guilty plea.
A victim impact report on behalf of the postmaster said he has been robbed 12 times over 20 years. The woman who was held hostage said she does not leave the house any more.
