Man, 30, who went on crime spree within 500 metres of his house is jailed

A man who went on an offending spree within 500 metres of his house has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Patrick Joyce (30), of Darceystown Close, Balbriggan, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and one count of assault causing harm in the Balbriggan area on March 7 and 8, 2024. He has 12 previous convictions.

Passing judgement on Thursday, Judge Orla Crowe said the aggravating factors in this case were that the first burglary was in a domestic setting and that Joyce assaulted his neighbour, which she described as a “nasty assault.” She also noted his previous convictions as an aggravating feature.

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Judge Crowe said the mitigating factors in this case were Joyce's early guilty plea, his good work history, his medical issues, his substance abuse history and that he is from a good family. She also noted that he was an enhanced prisoner.

Judge Crowe said that while all of these matters “were transacted over a short period of time, they were not a single transaction; there were three injured parties”.

The judge said these were not sophisticated incidents and outlined that “having someone in your house at night must have been a terrifying ordeal.”

Judge Crowe sentenced Collins to two years in prison for the burglary in the domestic setting and two years in prison for assault causing harm, both to run concurrently. She backdated this sentence to include time already served exclusively on this matter. She suspended the final six months of the sentence for one year.

Garda Dean O’Donnell told Tessa White, BL, prosecuting, that the gardai received a call from a woman who said she woke just before midnight on March 7 and heard a noise downstairs in her home.

She called out “hello” and heard someone fleeing her house. The woman chased the man, who she recognised as Joyce, and told him she was recording him on her phone. She feared for her safety and returned to her home and called the gardai.

The court heard that gardai were contacted by a manager in a local bar at midnight, informing them that a man identified as Joyce went into the bar and took a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka from behind the bar.

Customers who were finishing their last orders informed the pub's manager, who confronted Joyce. The manager retrieved the bottle from him and he then began drinking from empty bottles in the bar.

A third person flagged down a garda car that was responding to the two earlier incidents regarding Joyce. The man told gardai that Joyce, who was known to him, approached his front door just after midnight on March 8.

The man asked him to leave his property and began walking him down the driveway when Joyce punched him in the face. The man described to gardai that it felt like “my brain shook inside my head”. He also said that Joyce had threatened to burn down his house.

Gda O’Donnell said the CCTV footage was obtained of the assault, and Joyce was identified. At 1 am, he was arrested and brought to Balbriggan Garda Station but was unfit to be questioned.

When he was interviewed, he denied the offences. The court heard that all three offences occurred within 500m of each other.

CCTV footage of the assault was played to the court, and the injured parties declined to make victim impact statements.

Gda O’Donnell agreed with Patrick Jackson, BL, defending, that there was no theft, damage or confrontation in the burglary offences. He also agreed that the man who Joyce had assaulted did not require medical attention.

The garda agreed with counsel that when Joyce is sober, he is a “gentleman” and that the injured parties were pleased that he entered a guilty plea.

He said that Joyce works in the prison kitchen and attends educational classes.

Counsel said, “It seems to be one spree over a short period of time”.

He said his client did his Leaving Certificate at the age of 17 and worked in the building trade afterwards.

Mr Jackson said that this is his client's “first time in custody, and it has been a very scary experience” and asked the court to give him a chance.

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