A drug addict who left two men with permanent scars when he slashed them with a broken bottle, and bound and gagged a man in his own flat, has been jailed for seven years by Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Martin Smith slashed his two victims in the Dame Street area after one of them came to the aid of the other man, and falsely imprisoned another man he met in the same area after smoking cannabis with him in his Ballsbridge flat for some hours.
Smith (23), a father of one from Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin 7, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and a number of counts of robbery between January and March 2002. He has six previous convictions.
The court heard that Smith tied and gagged the man in the flat with cable and a scarf at about 4 a.m. after he produced a knife with a six-inch blade and put it to his throat, saying: "I'm going to kill you. I hate queers. I was abused as a kid."
He robbed €25 from this victim's wallet and then took €500 from a rent book. He also stole his car keys and locked his door from the outside before he made off in the victim's car, which was later found burnt out in Fatima Mansions.
Det Garda Ian Farrell told the court the victim took 90 minutes to free himself, but was locked into the flat for a total of seven hours because Smith had taken the Sim card from his mobile phone. He eventually managed to call for help and contacted the gardaí.
Three days later Smith approached another man having a cigarette on Crampton Court, just off Dame Street. They struck up a conversation and the man gave a cigarette to Smith, who then pulled a broken half-pint glass from under his jacket and demanded his wallet.
He took his mobile phone, car keys and ATM card, but just then a passer-by came to the victim's assistance.
Smith lashed out with the glass and struck this man on the side of the head.
A struggle then ensued which spilled out on to Dame Street. The first victim was also slashed on the side of the neck but managed to escape into a taxi.
Judge Hogan said that Smith had pleaded guilty to a number of very serious offences and during a concentrated period of time he seemed to go on a spree of crime.
"All the offences are the same type of crimes, namely robberies involving the use of violence.
"There are some mitigating factors, but I have to consider that he has a number of previous convictions and that in the perpetration of these crimes there was a very real threat of violence or alternatively violence was used," he concluded.
Det Gda Bernard Supple said the victims needed a number of stitches to head and facial scars. Their scars were permanent and the incident had left both men extremely traumatised.