A DRUG ADDICT who wielded a syringe while robbing a young mother with a small child and an American tourist in the toilets of fast-food restaurants has been given a five-year sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Thomas Byrne (29), who has 31 previous convictions, pointed the syringe at his terrified victims during the robberies but was arrested after being identified by gardaí on CCTV footage from the two fast-food outlets.
Byrne, St Aongus’s Crescent, Tallaght, Dublin, pleaded guilty to robbery and false imprisonment of an American tourist at Burger King, Grafton Street, Dublin, on May 25th, 2008, and to robbery and the production of a syringe at McDonald’s at Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin, on May 26th, 2008.
Judge Katherine Delahunt said she “could not underestimate the sheer terror and horror” of Byrne’s victims.
Judge Delahunt imposed a five-year sentence but suspended the final 15 months on strict conditions.
Garda Ciara O’Sullivan told Michael Bowman, prosecuting, that Byrne held the syringe to the throat of a male American tourist in the men’s toilets of Burger King while he and an accomplice robbed him of his wallet.
The following day, Byrne held a syringe to the face of a young mother with a two-year-old child as she came out of a cubicle in the women’s toilets of McDonald’s, Dundrum.
Byrne told her: “Hand over your f**king handbag and don’t shout”, before he and his accomplice escaped.
The woman told gardaí that Byrne and his accomplice had been sitting at a table across from her in the restaurant before following her and her son to the toilet.
Luigi Rea, defending, said Byrne had begun dabbling in drugs at a young age but has been addressing his addiction since he went into custody last May.