(Pictured: Paul Brannigan. Photo: Collins)

A young Dublin man has been jailed for three years for swinging a golf club into another male – who died shortly afterwards – outside his home in the early hours after St Patrick’s Day.

Paul Brannigan (24) was convicted by a jury earlier this month of assaulting Jason Saunders by head-butting him and striking him with a golf club. The victim died shortly after the attack and Brannigan was also charged with his manslaughter.

The jury found Brannigan guilty of a further charge of producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury in a fight. After a ….read more

A pregnant mother of three who robbed a taxi driver with a syringe after he spurned her sexual advances has had her partially suspended sentence reactivated.

Mary Ward (34) offered the driver sex and quoted him prices for various sexual acts. When he didn’t express any interest she decided to rob him.

Ward, with an address at Nelson St, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbing taxi driver Declan Byrne and threatening him with a syringe at Blackhall Place and attempting to rob Sean McGarby at a Spar shop in Inchicore on August 27, 2011.

She also pleaded guilty to ….read more

A Meath mother-of-one who stole over €14,000 from an elderly lady’s bank account so she could pay off a loan shark has received a three year suspended sentence.

The court heard that former Ulster Bank cashier Karen Smith (29) withdrew the final sum of money from the inactive account two weeks after the elderly woman had died.

Garda Brendan O’Horan revealed that Smith, who has since been fired, had had a seven year unblemished work history with the bank.

Smith, of The Village Green, Ratoath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to stealing €14,160 and forgery of a bank document at Ulster ….read more

A woman was conned into buying a stolen car for €4,300 cash after she saw it advertised on Done Deal, a court has heard.

Gardai managed to track down the seller, Stewart Crosbie (45), from a smart phone photo of him taken by the woman’s suspicious friend.

Garda Martina Drew said Crosbie later admitted he had passed the money to a third party, to whom he owed a drug debt.

Crosbie, of St Cronans Grove, Swords, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing a stolen Toyota Vitz at Grange Road, Clonsilla on January 24, 2015.

He has 25 previous convictions and ….read more

A Dublin drug addict who burst a solicitor’s lip after she had pursued him for taking her phone has been jailed for two years.

Aaron Carey (28) punched Aine Ni Riain, a district court solicitor, in the face a first time when he took her phone while she was on her way home from work.

Carey, who was residing at Judge Darley’s Hostel, Parkgate Street, Dublin at the time, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Ms Ni Riain causing her harm at Benburb Street and at Wolfe Tone Quay on January 24, 2015.

The father-of-two has 45 previous convictions, including ….read more

(Pictured: Anne Fennell. Photo: Collins)

A 57-year-old Dublin woman who made nuisance phone calls to the Department of Finance has had her sentence adjourned for this and other matters to allow for a psychological report.

Anne Fennell, of Monastery Gate Green, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty in November at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making persistent phone calls for the purpose of causing annoyance or anxiety to the Department of Finance on February 2, 2014.

Lawyers for Ms Fennell today asked Judge Martin Nolan to adjourn the sentence hearing as a report would not be ready until next month.

Kevin White BL, defending, submitted that his ….read more

A 16-year-old boy who violently robbed a woman at a Luas stop and then ransacked a pub kitchen has received two and a half years detention for these and other offences.

Gardaí caught the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, with a co-accused, Carl Farrell (23), smashing vehicles in an underground apartment car park during another incident a month later.

The court heard that the boy had accumulated 29 previous convictions, including criminal damage and thefts, since March 2014.

Co-accused Farrell, of Uppercross Road, Rialto, Dublin received two years in consecutive sentences for the car park criminal damage and a burglary.

The ….read more

A young Wexford resident who robbed a Dominos Pizza delivery man and took off in his car has been jailed for 16 months.

The court heard that gardai traced the crime back to Eric Sutcliffe (21) after he had left his fingerprints on a two litre bottle of coke at the scene.

The injured party’s €1,300 car was found burnt out the next day and the insurance company wouldn’t compensate him because of his job’s nature.

Sutcliffe of The Park, Clonattin Village, Gorey pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbing cash and car keys at Reuben Walk, Rialto, Dublin on November ….read more

A young Dublin man has gone on trial for the manslaughter of another man outside a flat the morning after St Patrick’s Day last year.

Colm O’Briain SC, prosecuting, told the jury there would be evidence that Paul Brannigan (24) hit Jason Saunders to the chest with a golf club and this caused fatal interference with the man’s heart.

Mr Brannigan, of Ratoath Drive, Finglas, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the manslaughter of Mr Saunders at Nassau Avenue, Cabra West on March 18, 2014.

He has further pleaded not guilty to assaulting Mr Saunders causing him harm and ….read more

A 17-year-old Dublin boy who kicked a schoolboy in the head leaving him with a fractured nose and cheek in a mistaken identity attack has received a three year suspended sentence.

The youth, who cannot be named as he is a minor, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting a teenage male causing him harm in Dublin on July 13, 2014.

The 17-year-old has no previous convictions.

Garda Mark Nolan told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that the school acquaintance had been walking home with another friend after watching the world cup football final that evening.

The 17-year-old approached in a group, punched ….read more