Prison sentence for Limerick man who fled the country after robbing teenager

A LIMERICK father who fled the jurisdiction after robbing a then-teenager at knifepoint over seven years ago has been sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.

Jimmy Casey, now aged 23, with an address at Toppins Field, John Carew Park, Limerick, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery arising from an incident on January 28, 2019.

During a sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Court, Judge Colin Daly was told that on this date, the victim, who was aged 15 at the time, had just purchased a €100 phone from Carphone Warehouse in Arthur’s Quay Shopping Centre.

As he was leaving the premises (which has since closed) at around 1.35pm, he was approached by Mr Casey and an accomplice, who called out to the boy.

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The victim ignored the pair and kept walking towards the exit, eventually leaving and heading in the direction of Penneys on O’Connell Street.

Evidence was heard that from here, Mr Casey, who was aged 16 at the time, went into Burger King, where he and his accomplice continued to beckon at the victim.

He then approached the victim again with his co-accused and asked for his phone. Limerick Circuit Court heard that Mr Casey produced a knife and threatened the victim.

The boy handed over his phone and also gave €30 to Mr Casey’s accomplice.

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About an hour later, the victim and his father reported the incident to gardaí and both were arrested on Henry Street at 3.50pm on the same day.

Jimmy Casey was found to be in the possession of the phone and its charger. His accomplice also had €30 on his person.

Prosecuting Barrister John O’Sullivan said the victim declined making an impact statement, saying he has had “his own challenges” with the criminal justice system.

The Court was informed that court proceedings arising from the incident, which took place more than seven years ago, were interfered with due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and the fact that Mr Casey left the jurisdiction and travelled to the UK. He came back to Ireland voluntarily.

Representing the defendant, Kenneth Kerins BL, said that “life has changed" since the incident took place as his client is now working, married and has children.

In a letter to Limerick Circuit Court, Mr Casey, who has over 20 previous convictions, told Judge Daly that he has never drunk or abused drugs and that he would have walked away from the incident if given the chance again.

He said he was “truly sorry” for what had occurred, with Mr Kerins concurring that he was “a child” when this happened.

In sentencing, Judge Colin Daly said it was clear that the victim had handed over the phone and cash “under duress” and that harm had been done because of this. He noted that this was a child targeting another child, one of which was armed with a blade and acted with an accomplice.

Aggravating factors, he said, include Mr Casey’s previous convictions, which include charges for theft, burglary and road traffic offences, among others.

With the maximum sentence for robbery being life in prison, Judge Daly was satisfied that the man's offending fell under the middle-low range. He set a headline sentence of two years’ imprisonment.

In mitigation, Mr Casey’s guilty plea was taken into account, even though the accused fled the jurisdiction and was “at large” for a number of years.

The sentence was reduced to 18 months on the basis of remorse expressed, lack of addiction difficulties and the fact that he is now married with a family, seeming like a “very different person.”

He has also not come to garda attention in recent years.

Jimmy Casey was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, backdated to when he entered custody on January 21 of this year.