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Armed robber who left two young kids in car while he raided rural shop is jailed

Two members of staff, including a pregnant woman, were left terrified by the ordeal

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A knife wielding robber left two young children in a parked car while he raided a shop in the Wicklow/Wexford border village of Kilanerin.

Peter Sheeran (32) from Carraig Mor, Kilcoole, County Wicklow, pleaded guilty to robbery when he appeared at Wexford Circuit Court. Judge Cormac Quinn learned that the defendant was apprehended by members of the public after making off with more than €1,000 snatched from the till at Murphy’s Gala store.

The raid on June 17 last left two shop assistants terrified, with one of them resigning from her job shortly afterwards out of fear. Sheeran was brought before the court by prison officers from Cloverhill where he had been detained on remand for five months.

The judge heard evidence from Garda Tom McRory who was on duty in a patrol car on the afternoon in question. Shortly after 2 p.m. he and his colleague Garda Dan Whelan received a report of an incident at Murphy’s.

They arrived in Kilanerin at 2.20p.m. to find that the defendant had been detained by passers-by in the Fermoyle estate, not far from the scene of the crime. He had discarded a knife described by the judge as a bread knife and the €1,016 he scooped from the cash register was also on the ground.

Sheeran carried out the robbery wearing a blue face mask, while the hood of his dark jacket was over his head. He wore a beany hat in which he had cut two eye holes but he did not pull this down over his face. CCTV played to the sentencing hearing showed how the defendant waited until assistant Leah Byrne had dealt with a customer. Also working that afternoon was Bernie Murphy.

The security camera picked up the raider waving the knife while leaning over the counter and helping himself to the money. He put the cash into his pocket and left the premises at a jog. Once outside, things did not go so smoothly for the accused as law-abiding citizens soon had him in their sights.

When he attempted to make his getaway, he was confronted by a man called Tracey who pinned him with his jeep to a fence in Fermoyle. The judge commended the jeep driver and other members of the public who helped to prevent Sheeran leaving the scene.

Garda McRory confirmed that the defendant had arrived in Kilanerin in a car which he parked several hundred yards away from the shop. He left two children, one aged two and the other aged seven, in the vehicle while he set off about his criminal business.

It emerged that Sheeran, who had no previous convictions, was under pressure to pay a €1,000 drug debt at the time. He told gardaí that a man he refused to name had called him that day telling him he would be shot if he did not produce the money that evening.

Victim impact statements made by shop assistants Leah Byrne (22) and Bernie Murphy (59) were read into the record. Ms Byne told how she was nine weeks pregnant at the time and attended Caredoc out of concern for the baby.

She said the incident had made her more cautious at work, especially when dealing with customers wearing masks. Ms Murphy stated that she was out of pocket and unemployed as she left her job in the wake of the events of June 17. She described how she felt very scared at the time, later having difficulty sleeping. She became uncomfortable in crowded areas and felt compelled to resign as she was no longer happy in the shop.

Defending barrister Brian Mulvany told the court his client was ashamed of what happened and that he apologised. Counsel suggested that the defendant was acting under duress when he made a poor and cowardly decision to commit the robbery.

It was not a well thought out scheme, Mr Mulvany accepted, and it caused trauma and inconvenience. Judge Quinn noted the offender was caught red-handed.

A five year prison sentence was handed down, back-date to June, with the closing year suspended.