One man jailed and pair escape prison after burglary spree

One man jailed and pair escape prison after burglary spree

22 June 2016

THREE men who carried out a string of burglaries last year have been sentenced at Downpatrick Crown Court.

Stephen Collins (24), of Drin Road, Dromara, was jailed for 15 months, while Dean Dobbin (25), of Islandbane Walk, Downpatrick, and Malachy Kennedy (24), of Naghan Court, Seaforde, were each given 15-month suspended sentences.

Their first burglary occurred in the early hours of January 5 last year when they were spotted on CCTV using a crowbar to force their way into the Naked Hair and Beauty hair salon in Dromara where they stole a Samsung Galaxy tablet and a leather case.

At 5.20am the same day they broke into the Vivo shop in Main Street, Dundrum, and stole £1,800 worth of cigarettes, plus scratch cards and £80 in cash.

The following day they broke into a Centra shop in Keady, Co Armagh, and stole £1,700 in cash, including charity money. They also tried to break into a haulage operator’s premises in Newtownhamilton on the same day.

The trio also admitted setting fire to a stolen Ford Focus car, while Kennedy admitted possessing cannabis and diazepam.

Sentencing Collins, Judge Stephen Fowler said the aggravating feature in the case was that there was more than one burglary.

In giving suspended sentences to Kennedy and Dobbin, the judge said he was an “exceptional course.”

He told Dobbin: “You have something of a record. It is quite clear you have had your difficulties.”

Addressing Kennedy, the judge remarked on what he described as an “extremely positive” pre-sentence report: “You are in the process of turning your life around,” he told him.

The sentence imposed on Collins will run concurrently with an 18-month sentence he received at the same court for assaulting his former partner and two children during a domestic incident in Castlewellan on December 17, 2014.

The court heard how Collins went to the woman’s home and that a disagreement quickly flared up. He assaulted her on two occasions and threatened to kill her. He injured himself with a kitchen knife and told the woman and children that he was going kill himself, causing them “extreme distress.”

He took his wife’s car and drove off with the children, telling his partner that she would never see them again. However, he returned a short time later, let the children out of the car and then drove off alone.

He was brought to a halt when the car crashed into a police vehicle and then struck a wall.

Ordering Collins to spend nine months in custody and a further nine on licence, Judge Fowler said it was the least sentence he could impose.

“There was more than one victim in this,” he said. “The damage domestic violence does to children is significant. This situation was potentially explosive.”

Judge Fowler also imposed a restraining order to last for five years and a two-year driving ban for dangerous driving.