Gardaí intercepted attempted robbery of German tourist

Eimear Dodd

Gardaí interrupted an attempt by two people to get money from a German tourist they had threatened, a court has heard.

Michael McDonagh (44) and Georgina McCarroll (39) both pleaded guilty to demanding money with menace at Fleet Street in Temple Bar on December 2, 2024.

McCarroll, with an address at Kildonan Road, Finglas West, Dublin 11, further pleaded to the theft of an iPhone on the same date. She has 204 previous convictions including for theft and fraud, robbery, and public order offences.

McDonagh, of Coultry Drive, Ballymun, Dublin 9, has 89 previous summary convictions, including road traffic, theft and fraud and public order offences.

Detective Garda Cathal Ryan told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Monday that the injured party was socialising in Temple Bar when he was approached by McDonagh who asked him for a cigarette.

The injured party said he was out of cigarettes and offered to go to a shop and buy a box for McDonagh. While walking, the man stopped to relieve himself in a laneway where McCarroll came up behind him and took his phone from his pocket.

McDonagh and McCarroll acted together and threatened the injured party, telling him not to cause any trouble.

The victim felt McCarroll had a knife by the way she had her hand in her pocket. Det Gda Ryan confirmed that neither of the defendants had a knife during the incident.

The injured party begged them not to take his phone, and they forced him to go to an ATM, telling him to withdraw money for them. He was terrified and in fear for his safety.

He got his phone back after saying he needed it to take money out. A first attempt to withdraw money failed. Det Gda Ryan said he and a colleague in an unmarked patrol car said the three individuals at the ATM appeared suspicious and they intervened while the injured party was making a second attempt to withdraw cash.

Both McDonagh and McCarroll were arrested at the scene. No money was taken from the injured party during the incident.

McDonagh made no admission during interview. He accepted speaking to the injured party who agreed to buy him cigarettes. He said he went into a shop and a woman approached him about the man's phone and he was “giving out about giving his phone back”.

McCarroll said she picked up the phone after it had fallen out of the injured party's pocket and asked him to “give us a score for your phone”. She denied having a knife, saying her own phone was in her pocket.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the injured party said he has experienced a “heightened sense of caution” and a “reduced sense of personal safety” since this incident.

He said he used to occasionally help people experiencing homelessness by buying them food or giving them money, but has lost trust and feels no longer able to act as he did before.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that both defendants pleaded on a trial date after the charge of demanding money with menace was added to the indictment. The injured party had travelled from Germany for the trial.

Det Gda Ryan agreed with Karl Monahan, defending McCarroll, that this was opportunistic offending. He agreed with Patrick McCarthy, defending McDonagh, that while threats were made, no physical violence was used.

Counsel for both defendants outlined that their clients had difficult backgrounds and longstanding addiction issues, which they are attempting to address while in custody.

Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain said this was an opportunistic crime when the injured party was vulnerable. She noted that the effect on the injured party was aggravating.

She said McCarroll's past record is “appalling”.

She set a headline sentence of five years for McCarroll and, having considered the mitigation, handed her a sentence of three years and six months, with the final 18 months suspended for two years.

The judge noted that McDonagh's record of previous convictions was “very shocking and very, very serious”, but noted this was his first time at the Circuit Court and that the court hoped this would “act as a wake up call for you”.

The judge set a headline sentence of four and a half years for McDonagh as he was not involved in the theft, which she reduced to three years with the final 18 months suspended for two years.

She placed both defendants under the supervision of the Probation Services upon their release.