Convicted attempted murderer (37) jailed for robbery of man recovering from surgery
Isabel Hayes
A convicted attempted murderer has been given a four-and-a half-year jail term for the “prolonged and violent” robbery of a man who was recovering from surgery.
Dean Paget (37) is currently serving a 13-year jail term for the attempted murder of his former partner, whose unborn child was pronounced dead in the wake of the April 2021 assault.
He will not serve further time in prison for the robbery offence, with Judge Orla Crowe ordering that the four-and-a-half year sentence handed down on Tuesday should date from his guilty plea last January.
Four months prior to the attempted murder of his partner, Paget and a woman carried out the attack on the man who was walking along the Dublin canal in December 2020 as he recovered from hip surgery, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
The charges in relation to this robbery were twice struck out for unknown reasons before Paget was again charged in June last year, defence counsel, Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, told the court.
Paget, with an address at Carnlough Road, Cabra, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery at Castleknock Road on December 3rd, 2020.
A count of assault causing harm was struck out, while two other counts of making a threat to kill and production of an article were taken into consideration, the court heard.
Paget has 73 convictions, including attempted murder, causing serious harm, robbery, theft and threats to kill.
George Burns BL, prosecuting, told the court that on the day in question, the injured party was taking a short walk in his local area to aid his rehabilitation from recent hip surgery.
Paget and a co-accused, Megan Creighton, set upon him as he walked along the canal, with Creighton biting his nose as he lay pinned on the ground and Paget kicking and punching him while threatening to knife him with a screwdriver. They took his phone during the attack.
An off-duty garda came upon the scene, and the injured party managed to get his phone back from the pair who fled the scene before eventually being detained.
Creighton (37) of Corduff Crescent, Blanchardstown, was jailed for three years in 2022.
The injured man was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a bite mark to his nose and abrasions to his cheek and neck.
In a victim impact statement read out by counsel, he said he was subjected to a “prolonged and violent assault”, during which his immediate concern was for his hip, which had recently been replaced.
He said that as he was pinned down by his assailants, he genuinely believed he was going to die, and his thoughts were for his wife and children.
“Physical injuries heal over time, but psychological injuries do not,” he said. He still has a visible scar to his nose and struggles with anxiety and panic attacks.
In her plea of mitigation, Ms Lawlor said her client wanted to make a full apology for his actions that day. She said his guilty plea was of valuable assistance, given the “significant period of unexplained delay” in bringing charges against Paget.
She noted this matter could have been dealt with before Paget's more serious Central Criminal Court matter. She asked the court to take into consideration his “sincere and genuine remorse”.
Sentencing him on Tuesday, Judge Orla Crowe said this was a very serious matter that had a profound effect on the injured party. “This was a sustained, physical, violent robbery,” she said.
She set a headline sentence of six years, which she reduced to four and a half years, taking mitigating factors into account. She noted the contents of a prison governor's report said Paget is doing well in custody.
