The brother of the Mulhall sisters, who killed their mother's African boyfriend in March 2005, has been sentenced to two years in prison for robberies he committed while wielding a knife.
John Mulhall (29), Kilclare Gardens, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two robberies, at a Spar on Orwell Road and an Emo station at Firhouse, in January 2005.
Judge Desmond Hogan heard the defendant had missed an earlier court appearance because he was looking after his sister Linda's four young children after she had left the country with their sister Charlotte and their mother.
Lilly Buckley, defending, said her client's sisters had been facing "serious charges" and their father had committed suicide at that time.
Det Garda David Connolly told Marie Torrens, prosecuting, that Mulhall had entered the Spar shop armed with a knife, jumped over the counter and demanded money from two members of staff.
An accomplice stood by the door and prevented customers from leaving the shop before they made off with €400.
The following week Mulhall entered a service station with a knife, jumped the counter and demanded cash from the till. He took €408 and 28 packets of cigarettes. Det Garda Connolly said a female member of staff curled up in a ball on the ground in fear.
Mulhall told gardaí that he had been on drugs at the time and had been spending up to €400 on heroin each day. He had previously had bad experiences in prison and did not want to "get locked up again". He was trying to get money to go to England.
Judge Hogan had previously imposed a two-year suspended sentence for assaulting a man on a bus in Tallaght in April 2004. He has a further 20 previous convictions.
Judge Hogan activated that suspended sentence and imposed a concurrent two years for the robberies backdating all sentences to June 2006 when Mulhall went into custody.