Isabel Hayes
A thief stole three legs of lamb from a supermarket in the hopes of selling it on the street for drugs before threatening a security guard with a syringe, a court has heard.
In another incident, Conor Kirwan pretended to be an undercover garda and made his unsuspecting victim take off their shoes and socks before he ran off with €30 in cash, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Monday.
Kirwan (27) with an address at Balbutcher Lane, Ballymun, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of one count of robbery and one count of impersonating a garda at Eden Quay, Dublin, on September 28th, 2020.
In relation to the lamb incident, he pleaded guilty to one count of producing a syringe at Dame Street on January 3rd, 2021. A count of theft from Dunnes Stores on George's St, Dublin was taken into account.
Kirwan also pleaded guilty to one count of robbing 11 pieces of corned beef at Supervalu, Finglas on June 16th, 2020. Evidence will be heard on this incident at a later date, the court heard.
Garda Cathy Giblin told Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, that in relation to the garda impersonation incident, the victim in question – a student - had paused on Eden Quay to put something in his bag around 9am in the morning in question when Kirwan suddenly jumped on him from behind.
The young man thought he was being attacked, but Kirwan told him he was an undercover garda doing a drug search, and he made him stand against the wall. The victim, who is in his twenties, had never had any interaction with gardaí before and believed Kirwan was a garda.
The street was busy with people walking by at the time. Kirwan told the young man to take off his shoes and socks before he started to search his bag. The victim became suspicious and repeatedly asked Kirwan for ID before Kirwan took €30 in cash from his wallet and ran off.
The victim put his shoes on and tried to give chase, before alerting nearby gardaí. He was “visibly upset and shaken”, the court heard.
CCTV
Kirwan was identified from CCTV footage from the area.
In the next incident in January 2021, Kirwan was spotted by a Dunnes Stores security guard putting three legs of lamb into a bag, before leaving the George's Street store without paying for them.
The security guard gave chase, along with another store guard. The men caught up with Kirwan on Dame St, before he took an uncapped syringe out of his pocket and pointed it at them, saying: “I'll stab you with this.”
Kirwan then threw the bag of stolen meat at the security guard before fleeing the scene. The total value of the meat recovered was €66, and it was deemed in good enough condition to be sold, the court heard.
Kirwan was once again identified from CCTV footage. He has 52 previous convictions, including for theft, assault and drug offences.
He told gardaí that his plan was to try and sell the meat to “random people on the street” and then use the money to buy drugs.
Defence counsel said Kirwan, who is in custody, has a long-standing drug addiction. He is originally from Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, but moved to Dublin to be with his partner. He was homeless at the time of the offences.
Judge Melanie Greally adjourned the matter for finalisation on February 14th.
