A man in his thirties has appeared in court today over an alleged attempted robbery of a business premises in Dublin city centre over the weekend.
The attempted robbery took place on Saturday afternoon, 22nd July, at a business premises on Frederick Street North in Dublin 1. The man appeared before the Criminal Courts of Justice this morning, at 10.30am.
The Gardaí said that a male entered the business at approximately 1.30pm, armed with what is believed to be a knife and axe, and threatened members of staff. Gardaí said the suspect fled the scene on foot.
The man was arrested and charged by Gardaí after they were notified of the incident and carried out a major search operation.
“Gardaí were notified of the incident and a managed search operation was conducted; the suspected offender was located a short time later. The weapons used during the attempted robbery were also recovered by investigating Gardaí,” they told Gript in a statement – adding that the suspect was arrested and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda station in Dublin.
The robbery comes as people across the country continue to react with horror to the harrowing attack on an American tourist last week, also in the city centre.
The 57-year-old man was attacked, kicked and beaten by a group of youths on Store Street just after 10.30pm on Wednesday night. Gardaí believe the man’s injuries are life-changing. The vicious assault happened just after he had left the guesthouse he was staying in on Talbot Street in the city.
The man, who has been identified by his family as Stephen Termini, is now at risk of losing an eye due to the serious injuries he sustained in the horrific assault. He remains in a serious but stable condition.
A young man has now been charged in relation to the attack. He has already appeared before a special sitting at the Children’s Court and will appear there later this week.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee condemned the attack as “brutal” – however insisted, in relation to the capital, that “our city is safe.”
Speaking as news of the attack spread, she said: “There can be no excuse for such violence and intimidation and I fully understand the concerns of the local community.
“A tough and firm response will send out the message that we will not tolerate this thuggery on our streets.
“People must have confidence they can safely walk the streets of our capital. I am in regular contact with Commissioner Harris on the issue of Garda visibility,” she added.
However, as reported by Newstalk, she admitted that people are “not going to be safe all the time.”
“I’ve been in the city centre myself – be it from a work capacity – but also in a private capacity,” she said.
“I’ve been at concerts locally down in the 3Arena, I’ve walked up to the city centre, I’ve been in the centre – and I do think the Gardaí themselves, the presence that they have there,” she added.
“In saying that, you’re not going to be safe all the time, everywhere in a city centre or anywhere – and I acknowledge that.
“There can be challenges and difficulties, but it’s about making sure where possible you prevent incidents from happening – but you can’t always prevent everything.”
Minister McEntee continued: “It’s how you respond to it and how you make sure that there is enough resources and the ability to be able to deal with crimes when they happen.
“I do think our city is safe, I have to stress that. Whether you’re living here, working here or whether you’re a tourist here, I do think our city is safe.
“But we do, like any other city, have problems that we need to address,” she said.
Provisional Crime Statistics for 2022, released by an Garda Síochána in March, showed that there was an increase in reported assaults causing harm across the country – with a 20 per cent rise seen in 2021, compared to 2019 levels.
A breakdown of the figures showed that there was a 16% rise in the number of murders on 2019.
Property crime increased by 36 per cent in 2022 compared with 2021, however, it generally wss lower than 2019 levels.
Overall reported burglary in 2022 saw a 45 per cent fall on pre-Covid levels. While residential burglary increased by 7 per cent compared with 2021, it saw a decrease of 24 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Non-residential Burglary was down 45 per cent compared to 2019, but up 15 percent last year from 2021.
“Burglary has been trending downwards, particularly since the commencement of Operation Thor in November 2015,” the Gardai said at the time, adding:
“Overall reported burglary in 2022 was 45% lower than pre-pandemic levels (2019). While Residential burglary was up 7% compared to 2021, Residential Burglary was down -24% in the fourth quarter 2022.
“This is a new trend and contrary to the international trend which sees residential burglaries spike during longer dark evenings of winter/ spring months. An Garda Síochána implements a Winter phase of Operation Thor between October and March, inclusive, to target this seasonal peak.”
In addition, Public Order incidents last year showed a gradual upwards trend starting in mid-2018 and, like other types of crime, saw a reduction in 2020 which caused this trend to plateau. The gardai reported an increase in these sorts of incidents of ten per cent in 2022 compared with the previous year.