A man who was the getaway driver in an armed robbery during which a shot was fired in a busy supermarket has been jailed for two and half years.
Dillon Andrews (26) did not enter the Lidl supermarket that day, but his co-accused went into the shop just after 7pm and fired a shot gun into the ceiling while customers, including children, were standing nearby.
The raider had his face completely covered and demanded cash. When the contents of the till were put into a bag for him, he ordered the manager to give him access to further tills and the safe.
The manager told him that he could not get into the safe, but he had pressed the panic alarm which shut the doors of the shop and prevented the raider from escaping.
When the robber realised he was locked in he became agitated, so the manager released him. He ran down the road and got into a vehicle Andrews was waiting in and the pair escaped.
Andrews, of Snowdrop Walk, Darndale, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery at Lidl in Coolock Retail Park on the Malahide Road, on November 13th, 2019. He has 59 previous convictions for possession of knives, endangerment, drugs, theft and road traffic offences.
Detective Garda Keith Cassidy told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that just over €1,000 was taken during the course of the robbery. He said the garda investigation focused on CCTV footage from the buildings nearby and from the shop.
The following day, gardaí came across Andrews and his co-accused sitting in a different vehicle.
There was obvious drug paraphernalia in the car, including crack pipes and there was a large amount of cash, in coins and notes, in the car. This arose the gardaí’s suspicions and the men were arrested. The garda confirmed that €550 was recovered from the car.
Interviews
Det Gda Cassidy said the co-accused had his hands swabbed and gun shot residue was found on his hands and clothing. Both men were also wearing very similar clothing to the men that had been in the CCTV footage recovered by gardaí.
Andrews was interviewed four times but denied any involvement in the robbery, while accepting that he had been in the company of his co-accused on the day of the robbery.
Det Gda Cassidy agreed with Mr Berry that Andrews’ co-accused was more forensically linked to the robbery and while Andrews initially elected for trial, he pleaded guilty to the robbery three months ago.
The manager of the supermarket had not prepared a victim impact statement for the case. He told gardaí that he remained calm during the raid but he was aware of the dangers present to the public, the staff and himself.
Luigi Rea BL, defending, said his client’s long term partner gave birth to a baby girl while he has been in custody on remand for the offence.
He outlined Andrews’ history of drug addiction, which he said led to his involvement in criminality. He said Andrews had family supporting him in court but added that they do not condone his behaviour.
Judge Elva Duffy said it was “a very serious incident that must have caused huge distress to all those involved” and noted that there were children in the shop at the time.
She accepted that Andrews’ plea was “valuable” to the prosecution case and accepted that he was the getaway driver and did not enter the shop.
She said, however, that he was found with the cash that had been taken during the raid. She added that he knew what he was doing before she imposed a sentence of two and half years.
