A man who took a pizza delivery driver's car without his permission and possessed property stolen from a student flat has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Charlie Darcy (35), of John's Lane West, appeared before Judge Orla Crowe in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday.
He pleaded guilty to counts of taking a vehicle without the consent of its owner and possession of stolen property on separate occasions between December 14th and 16th, 2021.
Garda Colm Reynolds said that at 9.30pm on the evening of the first incident, a pizza order was made by phone to Four Star Pizza in Kilmainham. The customer provided a delivery address at Camac Crescent Apartments, Dublin 8.
When the delivery driver arrived at the apartment block, he called the customer and arranged a meeting place. The driver saw two men come out of the apartment and approach the gate where he was parked.
The driver got out of the car and went to get the pizzas from the boot, when the two men told him to hand over the keys and his wallet. They pushed him backwards, and he fell on the ground.
The men demanded money and the keys to the car, but when one of the men saw they had been left in the ignition, they both got in and drove away.
The driver reported the incident to the gardaí, but wasn't able to provide an accurate description of the men because they had their hoods up. He used an app installed on the stolen phone to track the car to an address in Ballyfermot.
Gardaí later carried out a search of the address after following up on the burglary of a student flat. Four Star Pizza boxes were found.
Victim impact statement
In a victim impact statement handed in to the court, the driver said: “The fear in the first few weeks after the robbery was terrible.”
Letters in the car showed the address where he and his family lived, and he said, “Any little noise in the night was scaring us.”
At one point, he thought one of the men who took the car came to the pizza shop where he worked and he called the police. He described it as a “terrible life experience”.
Darcy also pleaded guilty to another charge which occurred two days after the robbery of the pizza delivery man.
Detective Garda Mark Kelly told the court that on December 16th, 2021, Darcy had in his possession items stolen from a student flat. This included cash, jewellery, headphones, a motorised skateboard and a hard-drive.
The two students were living in a flat on Clanbrassil Street. They had both left the apartment to go to the nearby university.
When one of the tenants returned at 9pm that day, he saw the door was open. He spoke with a neighbour and found out the gardai had already been at the property.
When their flatmate arrived, they called gardaí and gave an account of what was missing from the house.
CCTV
CCTV from a nearby restaurant showed Darcy and another man with items stolen from the house. Gardaí got a warrant and searched Darcy's house.
The headphones were found, but the rest of the stolen property was not. Darcy was arrested and detained by gardaí.
In a victim impact statement to the court, the person living at the address said “My home still doesn't feel the same.” He described how the newly reinforced door frame “is a constant reminder of what happened.”
Darcy was on bail at the time of both offences for a burglary of the Marble Arch pub in Drimnagh. When arrested for this crime, he was found possessing an imitation firearm.
Darcy has 57 previous convictions including for attempted murder, possession of controlled drugs, possession of an imitation firearm, assault, burglary, theft, robbery, and handling stolen property.
Keith Spencer BL, defending, said Darcy witnessed violence from a young age and “had spiralled completely out of control” at the time of the offences and was taking drugs.
He said that Darcy “was under direct pressure because he had accumulated a debt” and that “in a bid to repay that, he was trying to acquire property.”
Mr Spencer said Darcy was at the “bottom of addiction” and in a “dark place” when he committed the crimes, but that “he is capable of recovery.”
He said that since entering custody Darcy has tried to better himself, but that “the real test of that will be upon release". He said Darcy “knows that the house of cards will come collapsing down upon him, should he reoffend.”
The court heard that Darcy is in custody serving a sentence in relation to the burglary of the Marble Arch pub. When that sentence concludes early next year, he will begin a two-year sentence for these offences.
Imposing the consecutive two-year sentence, Judge Orla Crowe noted that Darcy is doing remarkably well in custody and is an excellent student, earning certificates in food safety and overdose prevention, among others.
The judge accepted that Darcy wishes to “draw a line” under his offending.
