Man caught robbing same Dublin garage eight years apart admits earlier offence

Texaco service station in Shankill targeted twice by same thief, court hears
Man caught robbing same Dublin garage eight years apart admits earlier offence

Isabel Hayes

A man who robbed a service station in 2013 was charged eight years later after he was caught trying to rob the same garage again.

Brian Comiskey (46) was initially arrested in 2013 after his Valentine's Day robbery of the Texaco service station in Shankill, Co Dublin, featured on RTÉ's Crimecall, and gardaí received an anonymous tip-off. However, there wasn't enough evidence to charge him with the crime, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Friday.

Some eight years later, in 2021, Comiskey was spotted by an off-duty detective walking into the same service station armed with a hammer, wearing a face covering and latex gloves.

He was apprehended before he could take any money, and while being taken to a garda station, he told gardaí that he had robbed the same service station back in 2013.

This confession was not admissible, and Comiskey stood trial in relation to the 2013 charges earlier this year. However, he entered guilty pleas shortly into the trial process.

Comiskey, of Northway Estate, Finglas, pleaded guilty to one count of robbery at the Texaco service station in Shankill on February 14, 2013 and to one count of burglary on the same day at Centra, also in Shankill. He has 45 previous convictions, including robbery, burglary, possession of knives and public order offences.

Sergeant Bernard Dunne told Simon Matthews BL, prosecuting, that on the day in question in 2013, Comiskey entered the Centra and rooted around the staff room without any of the workers noticing. He took a screwdriver and left the store.

He then went to the Texaco service station, where he brandished the screwdriver and demanded money from the worker there, leaving the scene with €700 in cash.

The crime featured on Crimecall and Comiskey was named as a suspect and arrested, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge him until his admission in 2021. He was sentenced to one year in jail for the 2021 robbery offence and was released from custody in 2023.

Emmet Nolan BL, defending, said this prison sentence spurred Comiskey to do “significant work on himself” and he has not come to garda attention since his release from custody.

“He is ashamed and embarrassed by his behaviour,” Mr Nolan said. At the time of the 2013 offence, he said Comiskey was in the grips of addiction and leading a chaotic lifestyle.

He is now clean of all drugs and in steady employment. He had a sum of €350 in court as a token of remorse.

Judge Martina Baxter adjourned the case to December 18 for finalisation.

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