A Somali man who has been “in and out of custody” since he was 19 has received a two year jail sentenced for his role in the mugging of another man in an early morning attack on Dublin’s Parnell Street.
Yahye Ali Jama (23), who is of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to theft in respect of the incident where the victim, a Mr. Raj, was followed by two men at 1:50am on the 2nd of February 2022.
The victim said he became aware that he was being followed before his pursuers sped up behind him before getting in front of him and asking him what he was “looking at”.
The men began shouting at Mr. Raj and pushed him up against a shop wall, pinning him, before going through his pockets and taking 6 bank cards as well as his iPhone.
The victim said he felt “afraid” and told his assailants that he would give them cash if they left him alone. The pair then began to punch him, only stopping when he told them his bank PIN code, the court heard.
Mr. Raj said that he was told he would be “stabbed” by the pair, but that he hadn’t actually seen knife.
After the victim reported the theft to Gardaí, he got back in touch to say that his card has been used at the Centra shop on Dame Street at 3:10am to make a number of transactions totalling €200.
When Gardaí got to the shop they encountered a trio of men whom they spoke to before Ali Jama attempted to run away before being caught.
A search of the accused produced Mr. Raj’s bank card and he was arrested and conveyed to Store Street Garda Station.
Ali Jama, who cam to Ireland with his family from Somalia when he was 8-years-old, has 26 previous convictions including 3 for robbery, possession of stolen property, failure to appear before the courts, 2 for possession of drugs, 6 for possession of phones in prison, and for criminal damage.
He has previously received a 5-year-jail term with 1 year suspended which expired on the 30th of April 2025.
Ali Jama’s defending counsel argued that his client had been “bullied in school” and that his drug and alcohol abuse had caused his mother and father to make him leave the family home. He has several brothers and sisters, and has been “in and out of custody since he was 19.”
Ali Jama says he “doesn’t remember” attacking Mr. Raj and that he “feels he may be possible dyslexic” as he cannot read or write well, the court heard,
Judge Martin Nolan said that the accused deserved a custodial sentence as the assault on the victim used “violence” and an “element of false imprisonment”.
Noting that the accused is “still a young man”, the court sentenced him to 2 years in prison for breaches of Section 4 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act 2001.