A 45-yr-old offender who has spent more than half of his life behind bars has been sentenced to a further six and a half years in prison for hijacking a woman’s car while she was cleaning it.
Joseph Rafferty, who was identified by a distinctive port-wine birthmark on his face, threatened to kill the woman if she did not exit the vehicle, causing her to leap from the car while it was still moving, reports Breaking News.
Rafferty, who has no fixed address and is linked to Tallaght, appeared before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court by video link from prison on Friday in relation to a series of connected offences at service stations in Dublin and Wicklow last year.
He pleaded guilty to threatening the woman with death and unlawfully taking her car on 26 April 2025 at the Circle K in Walkinstown, reports Breaking News.
He also admitted stealing her iPhone and a box of dental veneers during the same incident. In addition, he pleaded guilty to robbing €800 from the Applegreen service station in Rathnew on that date.
He further pleaded guilty to attempted robbery at the Circle K in Bray later that evening, reports Breaking News.
Judge Orla Crowe described the case as a “spate” of offences committed by a repeat offender over a short period, saying they were underpinned by a serious level of violence.
She said Rafferty subjected the woman, who had been vacuuming her car, to a brutal sequence of offences before she escaped, noting that her personal belongings were never recovered, reports Breaking News.
Judge Crowe referred to the extreme terror inflicted on the victim and said the extent to which innocent people’s peace of mind during everyday activities was shattered had to be reflected in sentencing.
In mitigation, she noted Rafferty’s early guilty pleas and expressions of remorse, as well as his drug addiction and difficult upbringing. She also considered a psychological report and his stated intention to rehabilitate while in custody, reports Breaking News.
Judge Crowe imposed a headline sentence of ten years for the hijacking offences, with the remaining matters taken into account. Having considered mitigation and personal circumstances, she reduced the term to seven and a half years, suspending the final year to encourage rehabilitation.
Detective Garda Daniel Tracey told the court that gardaí were called to the Walkinstown service station shortly before 7pm on the evening in question, reports Breaking News.
The complainant, who was visibly distressed, told gardaí she had stopped at the station to clean her car and had left the keys in the ignition while vacuuming.
She said that while she was in the back seat, a man entered the driver’s seat and repeatedly told her to “get out of the car or I’ll f***ing kill you”, adding that he was grinding his teeth, reports Breaking News.
She explained that the man drove forward and crashed before reversing with her still inside. She jumped from the vehicle while it was moving, after which he sped away and she ran into the shop to seek help.
Her car was never recovered, nor were her phone or the box containing €1,000 worth of dental veneers that had been inside, reports Breaking News.
The woman described the suspect as being in his 40s and having a wine-coloured birthmark on the side of his face.
Just over an hour later, a man matching that description entered the Circle K in Bray, where he threatened staff with a nine-inch stick and demanded cigarettes, though he left empty-handed, reports Breaking News.
As he exited the shop, CCTV footage showed him taking four bottles of Bulmer’s Zero before getting back into the woman’s car, with the birthmark visible on his cheek.
Shortly afterwards, the same man arrived at the Applegreen in Rathnew in the stolen vehicle, put €70 worth of fuel into it, jumped over the counter while holding an empty bottle, grabbed a scissors and told staff to “open the two fucking tills now”. He took €800 in cash, reports Breaking News.
CCTV footage captured that incident as well, and following an investigation, Rafferty was arrested.
The court heard that Rafferty has 61 previous convictions dating back to 1999, including offences such as hijacking, aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, endangerment, possession of firearms and larceny. He has previously received lengthy prison sentences, including seven years in 1999 and nine years in 2018, reports Breaking News.
A victim impact statement was submitted on behalf of the car owner, who was present in court.
Det Gda Tracey agreed with defence counsel Sarah-Jane O’Callaghan BL that the CCTV footage was of poor quality and that the port-wine birthmark was crucial in identifying Rafferty, reports Breaking News.
“If you know him, you know him,” the garda replied, reports Breaking News.
He also agreed that drug addiction had played a significant role throughout Rafferty’s life, more than half of which he has spent in prison.
Counsel told the court that Rafferty’s father was a hardened criminal and that her client had witnessed extreme violence in the family home growing up, reports Breaking News.
She said the home was frequently raided by gardaí due to his father’s criminal activities, which included burglary and drug dealing, and that Rafferty was encouraged into crime from a young age.
Counsel said Rafferty began abusing alcohol at 12, was expelled from primary school and left secondary school after just one year, adding that he had been encouraged to leave education, reports Breaking News.
She told the court he started using cocaine and heroin in his 20s and lived in a constant state of paranoia and anxiety, unable to function without drugs.
O’Callaghan said Rafferty had also experienced significant personal loss, including the death of a co-accused during an armed robbery and another friend killed while joyriding, reports Breaking News.
She said a psychological report indicated that due to limited intellect and education, he struggled to understand the impact of his crimes on victims.
She added that Rafferty had been severely assaulted in prison, suffering a broken jaw, leaving him on a liquid diet and barely able to communicate, reports Breaking News.
“Life has not been easy for him,” she said. However, she told the court he intends to be productive during his sentence, reports Breaking News.
Prosecuting counsel Emmet Nolan BL told Judge Crowe that the maximum penalty available for hijacking is 15 years’ imprisonment, reports Breaking News.
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