Man is jailed for his involvement in robbery of €21,800 from post office

A MAN involved in the burglary of a shop on Grafton Street and a separate robbery at a post office in Ballyfermot has been jailed, reports Eimear Dodd.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that a car was reversed into the front of the Hugo Boss shop on January 18, 2023, causing €51,000 of damage to the front door and windows.

Lee Conlon (44) was one of three men who went into the shop on Grafton Street and stole clothing worth over €7,100.

Conlon was identified from CCTV.  Gardaí obtained a warrant and searched his home on January 31, 2023, where they found items of Hugo Boss clothing, some with the tags still attached.

A phone was also seized belonging to another person, and found to contain photos of some stolen items and records of conversations where Conlon appeared to be trying to sell the clothing or barter them for drugs.

Conlon was on bail at the time of this offence and nothing of evidential value was obtained when he was interviewed following arrest.

In a separate incident, Conlon was involved in the robbery of a post office in Ballyfermot on November 11, 2023.

The court heard that Conlon was carrying a blue scaffolding pole which he used to smash the security glass at the counter.

Over €21,800 was taken during the robbery and Conlon was the driver of the getaway car, which had been stolen earlier.

His fingerprints were also found on false registration plates.

Three tellers and a customer along with her young grandchild were present in the post office at the time, the court heard.

The getaway car crashed a short distance later and Conlon was arrested.

The blue pole was recovered from the car along with €3,000 in cash, and a further

€10,000 found stuffed in Conlon’s  trousers. Another co-accused was found carrying €8,000 in cash.

No victim impact statements were handed to the court. Conlon was on bail for the burglary at the Hugo Boss store at the time of this offence.

Conlon of Meath Place, Thomas Street, Dublin 8 pleaded guilty to one count of burglary and one of criminal damage at the Hugo Boss shop on Grafton Street on January 18, 2023.

He also sent forward to the Circuit Court on signed pleas in relation to the robbery of the post office including production of an article, robbery, criminal damage, possession of false registration plates and using a car without the consent of the owner.

On Thursday, Judge Martin Nolan handed Conlon a global sentence of seven and half years, taking his personal circumstances and mitigation into account.

Judge Nolan noted that the Hugo Boss shop was unoccupied at the time, but said the post office robbery was “more serious”.

He said this would have been an “incredibly frightening” experience for all of the people in the post office.

Conlon has 89 previous convictions including for robbery.

The investigating garda agreed with Garret Baker SC, defending, that Conlon entered early pleas and has addiction issues.

It was also accepted that no one was physically injured in the post office robbery and that Conlon has spent a significant portion of his adult life in custody.

Mr Baker said his client is “realistic” and understands he is facing a custodial sentence.

Conlon is in a long-term relationship and his partner was in court to support him.

Counsel said his client had longstanding issues with addiction, but managed to maintain a period of sobriety between 2014 and 2017.

Conlon relapsed following the death of his sister in 2017. Mr Baker said his client is aware of the need to put in place support structures following his release from custody and to deal with his addiction issues.

Conlon’s parents also passed away in 2023 and defence counsel said his client is now the “de facto father figure” in the family.

He asked the court to take into account his client’s guilty pleas, co-operation and other mitigating features when imposing sentence.

Judge Nolan said he would impose a sentence of 18 months in relation to the burglary at Hugo Boss and a consecutive six-year sentence for the post office robbery.

He backdated the sentences to November 11, 2023.