A burglar who took £25,000 from a Dublin bank before flying to the US and booking into a $215 a night New York Hotel has been jailed for eight years for a number of robberies.
Anthony Prendergast (30), Cappagh Drive, Finglas, stole the £25,000 cash from AIB bank in Finglas after discovering it in an open box in the bank. An employee had forgotten to put the money in a safe the night before. He later told gardai: "I thought it was my birthday when I saw the cash".
Prendergast was passing the bank on October 13th, 1999, when he broke in. He climbed into the employee section of the bank where he got the money. The next day he flew to the US and booked in at the Lexington Hotel in Manhattan. He told gardai he went to the Bronx and bought some crack cocaine.
Prendergast pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery, burglary and criminal damage on various dates in 1998 and 1999.