A man who assaulted a 73-year-old woman who had just won €23,000 at a downtown casino was sentenced to three years in prison.
Iancu Nicola, 31, attacked the victim while she was collecting mail from the mailbox outside the house. He and her accomplice, Declan Connolly, 41, had followed the woman from the casino to her home, reports RTE.
A third man, Brian English, 32, had previously monitored the woman’s activities at the casino.
Nicola, formerly of The Boulevard, Mount Garrett, Tyrrelstown, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the robbery of the woman outside her Templeogue home on October 7, 2016. He has six prior convictions for road crimes.
Nicola fled the day after the attack and was eventually arrested in Romania five years later. He was returned to Ireland following a European arrest warrant in October 2021. He has been in custody awaiting sentencing since his arrest.
According to the national broadcaster, Connolly was sentenced to five years in prison with a suspension of the last two and a half years, while the Englishman was sentenced to three years with a suspended sentence by Judge Martin Nolan in November 2019.
Connolly, of Coultry Drive, Santry Avenue, Dublin, pleaded guilty to the robbery in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He has 11 prior misdemeanor convictions that have been tried in district court.
English of Chancery Hall, North King Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty to stealing the €23,000 from the woman after the Gardaí were convinced that he acted as an “observer” that night and passed on information in relation to the victim. He has no criminal record.
In sentencing Nicola this morning, Judge Melanie Greally suspended the last 18 months of a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence. The suspension is on the condition that Nicola keeps the peace and commits to the Probation Service after his release.
Defense Ian Woodland BL said his client was involved in the crime because he was addicted to gambling at the time. Nicola’s sister had 18,000 euros in cash to deliver to the victim in the case, reports RTE.
Garda Detective Peter Lyons said the Gardaí saw a large amount of surveillance camera footage in the area and believed the getaway vehicle had false plates. They were then able to determine the true details of the car that had been owned by Connolly.
Connolly’s home was ransacked, his cell phone was seized and analyzed and he was arrested. He did not make any admissions during the Garda interview.
Detective Gda Lyons said CCTV footage from the Fitzwilliam Casino and Card Club, where the woman had successfully won cash roulette, showed the Englishman monitoring his activities. A warrant was obtained to search his home and a cell phone was removed for analysis.
Analysis showed communication between the phones up to the time the woman left the casino, and CCTV footage also showed the Englishman approaching Connolly’s car at some point.
English was arrested and interviewed, but again made no admission.
Detective Gda Lyons said the woman was dragged down an embankment during the robbery and was left with severe bruises and cuts.
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