Man jailed after robbery of vulnerable man on way to church
Roy Kelleher formerly of Ballinderry Park, Mayfield, Cork, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to the robbery of €20 from a man at St Augustine Street on March 5 2020. Picture: iStock
A 35-year-old man who carried out a robbery of a small amount of cash from a vulnerable man making his way to a church in Cork city in the middle of the day was jailed for 18 months.
Roy Kelleher formerly of Ballinderry Park, Mayfield, Cork, pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to the robbery of €20 from a man at St Augustine Street on March 5 2020.
Judge Dara Hayes imposed a sentence of three years with half of it suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Judge Hayes said: “His co-accused (a woman who is due to be sentenced in April) asked the injured party for some change. He was a particularly vulnerable person with learning difficulties. He had the intellectual capacity of a young teenager.
“He went to give her some coins. The co-accused took €20 from his pocket. She then pulled his bag aggressively and his belongings fell around the street.
“The injured party was then kicked and punched by both accused.
“The court was previously shown CCTV of the incident which lasted two and a half minutes. It continued until passers-by intervened.
“Detective Garda Kieran O’Sullivan said Roy Kelleher underplayed the incident when asked about it. But this was a nasty offence. The injured party was a vulnerable man in his 60s, attacked in broad daylight in Cork city centre. Both accused punched and kicked him and played an active role in the robbery.”
Defence senior counsel, Jane Hyland, said the accused came out of prison from another sentence in May last year and was clean and sober and engaging with ongoing addiction services.
