An Addict who used syringes in two shop robbery attempts has been jailed for six years by Judge Joseph Mathews at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Jeffrey Robinson forced a young assistant in Tylers shoe shop in Dublin city centre to fill his pocket with money from the till while he held her around the neck and brandished a syringe.
He was arrested in the Coombe and the money was recovered. The shop assistant was not physically harmed but was terrified.
Robinson (29), of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the robbery of £110 at Tylers in O'Connell Street on February 18th, 1997. He had 15 previous convictions.
The court heard he used two syringes to confront a father and son, Patrick and Fiachra Dalton, at Newsworld in James's Street on January 30th last.
He ran off after getting nothing but was arrested when identified from a patrol car. He admitted the offence.
Defence counsel Mr Tom O'Connell said Robinson's "inept" robbery attempts showed how bad his drug addiction was.
Judge Mathews said he would review the sentence on October 6th, 2000, and it was totally up to Robinson himself to prove he merited any chance of having the length of his incarceration reduced.