Hour of terror: Pair jailed for vicious Dublin city centre robbery

Sonya McLean

A man and woman who kept their victim with them for an hour before launching a sustained attack at Hatch Street in Dublin 2 and robbing him of his phone and wallet have been jailed for seven and a half years.

Conor Manning (30) picked up the victim and threw him headfirst into Luas tracks during the assault. He also sat on top of him at one point and attempted to strangle him after the victim was dragged off a main street into a nearby laneway.

At the end of the assault, Manning offered the man his hand, in what appeared to be an attempt to help him to his feet, before he drove him headfirst into a wall.

Garda Eoin O'Connor told Jane Horgan-Jones, prosecuting, that the victim was first approached by Manning and his co-accused Jackie McElhaton (50). McElhaton has a total of 309 previous convictions and was on bail for multiple crimes at the time of the robbery.

He was asked for money for a hostel, and when he refused, McElhaton struck him on the back of the head with a glass bottle. She took his mobile phone from him but Manning returned the phone to the victim.

The man was then forced to walk with the pair and was made to stay with them for an hour before Manning began the second attack.

McElhaton stamped, kicked and punched the man during this assault, which lasted about six minutes.

O'Connor told Horgan-Jones that the victim lost consciousness a number of times. He was ultimately helped by security staff nearby after Manning and McElhaton robbed his phone and wallet and fled the scene.

An ambulance was called for the man, but he declined to go to hospital. He went in for treatment two days later.

Manning, of Merchants Quay, Dublin 8, and McElhaton of Gardiner Street, Dublin 1, both pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery of the man on Hatch Street, Dublin 2 on April 12th, 2025.

Separately, McElhaton also pleaded guilty to an earlier robbery on November 4th, 2024 during which she robbed a woman of her wallet as the victim was about to go into her apartment.

The victim followed McElhaton a short time later and got her wallet back from her but the cash that had been in it was missing.

McElhaton received a consecutive one year jail term for the November robbery, meaning that she received a total sentence of eight and half years.

Both Manning and McElhaton were identified by gardaí after they viewed CCTV footage of the attack.

McElhaton has 309 previous convictions from 2000 to 2026, including robbery, attempted robbery, assaulting a police officer, violent behaviour in a garda station, public order, theft and fraud.

Manning has 56 previous convictions for offences including robbery, assault causing harm, theft and fraud, public order, drug offences and criminal damage.

Victim impact statement

The victim read his victim impact statement into the record. He said it was a deeply distressing and frightening experience which took a “sinister turn” following a request for cash.

He said from the moment his phone was taken he felt “completely vulnerable and afraid”. He said he felt if he got to a location with the robbers where he was visible and there would be CCTV cameras, he would be safer.

“I could not have been more wrong,” he said before he described having his head slammed against concrete and stone and being subjected to punches and kicks.

He said he was then dragged to a more secluded spot where he received further kicks and punches. He described the attack continuing even after the pair had robbed him of his phone and wallet.

“The fear, pain and humiliation that caused me is something I continue to struggle with to this day,” he said.

The man described feeling pain “all over”. His teeth were chipped, and he was “mortified and tired”.

“I just wanted to go home and sleep – it took two days to realise what had happened to me,” he continued.

He spent 24 hours in accident and emergency when he eventually went to hospital to rule out the potential that he could have brain bleeds.

He said he has tried to forget the assault, but he finds himself being hyper-vigilant and overwhelmed by loud noises. His sleep has also been impacted, and he has “a general sense of unease”.

The man described it as “an unprovoked assault and robbery” during which the level of violence escalated.

He has experienced anxiety, disturbed sleep and a loss of confidence as a result.

“My sense of independence and overall safety has been impacted,” concluded the man.

Judge Martin Nolan said the victim was on his way home “minding his own business” when he was accosted by Manning and McElhaton.

“She struck him with a bottle,” Judge Nolan said before the man was detained “attacked savagely, dragged along the ground, kicked to his body and slammed into a wall”.

“It is very hard to know why they attacked him in this way – for some reason they wanted to detain him and then savagely attacked him,” Judge Nolan said, remarking that it was “gratuitous violence”.

Judge Nolan acknowledged that neither Manning nor McElhaton had “a good start in life” but he said they understand the difference between right and wrong.

He said they are lucky the victim did not sustain more serious injuries and accepted that while they both had a significant history of previous convictions, there was nothing in their record to suggest that they would have previously involved themselves in this level of violence.

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