The gripe thread

santosubito

I think this is it. I spent a few hours sitting outside his house in the hope he'd talk to me. He didn't...



The Irish Times

May 7, 2005

Preacher foils raid on post office in Dublin

SECTION: Ireland; Other Stories; Pg. 6

LENGTH: 299 words

An armed robbery was foiled in a Dublin post office yesterday when the raider was tackled by a man carrying a Bible and described by witnesses as a preacher.
Armed with a knife and an imitation firearm and wearing a balaclava, the raider was attempting to rob the post office on Botanic Avenue at around 10.30am yesterday morning when two customers attacked him.

The raider and one of the customers, believed to be an African preacher, struggled and fell through the office's front window on to the street. The raider suffered minor injuries and was arrested by gardai.



The African man, who is believed to live on Botanic Avenue, was taken to the Mater hospital with head injuries and has since been discharged.
Gardai arrested a 20-year-old man and he is being held at Store Street Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

Gordon Johnson, a meat worker who was passing by, told RTE's Liveline that he rang gardai while the man held the raider on the ground.

"The guy's head was split wide open with the glass. He stayed on him. He wouldn't get off him. Fair play to him, very brave," he said.

He told the programme that the preacher was threatened by the raider.

"Your man said: 'Get off me, I'll kill you,' but he said: 'God is on my side, you won't kill me."

A spokeswoman for An Post said that they were concerned for the wellbeing of all the customers in the post office as well as the man.

"This gentleman was injured and other people were badly shocked. We are all shocked about what happened," she said.

An Post had a team in place to ensure that everyone who was affected by the raid got whatever treatment they needed.

The Botanic Road Post Office will remain closed for the weekend while gardai gather forensic evidence.

santosubito

The Irish Times

January 31, 2006 Tuesday

In short

SECTION: IRELAND; In the Courts; Pg. 4

LENGTH: 308 words


More court reports in brief.

Man jailed for 13 years for knife crimes, robberies

A man with convictions over many years involving the use of knives has been sentenced to 13 years in consecutive terms at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. William Higgins left a man with life-threatening injuries when he stabbed him for allegedly kicking his girlfriend on the River Liffey boardwalk during the March 2003 Skyfest fireworks display. Higgins then used a knife when he threatened to kill anyone who came near him while he robbed a video shop in November 2004.

In May 2005 when a "brave but foolhardy" Congolese lay preacher pinned him to the ground, a knife fell out of Higgins's pocket after both came through the window of a post office he had tried to rob.

Higgins (32), Blackhorse Grove, Stoneybatter, pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Mark Duggan on March 15th, 2003; to robbery of the video shop on November 27th, 2004; and to attempted robbery of the post office on Botanic Road, Glasnevin. He had 14 previous convictions.Judge McDonagh imposed eight years for the assault and five years each on the other two charges. He suspended the final two years of the five-year terms.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Most of that is accurate, but would you believe the most accurate report was carried in The Star newspaper!.

I seen the video footage and stills from the video from inside the shop.

The raider was tackled by the African (only one person tackled him inside the P.O.) , he was a preacher from The Congo. In the struggle both fell through the window (there were three chairs in the P.O. which they fell over).

I was driving past at this stage, and at this stage those reports are inaccurate.

The 'meat worker', was a coward. He was one of the butchers from the butchers next door. There was another man from the o2 phone shop and another from a cycle shop (which is now a barbers).

When I arrived I took hold of the raider, who made an alligation of assault against me so he's got a different story to tell. His imitation gun fell from his hand at this stage and was up against the butchers window (I remember this because I told people not to touch it) and he held a steak knife in his left hand.

The story of the bible came from an account I gave of what happened after the raider was taken away. I gave the report to the army press office, and gave permission to release it once my name and unit were kept out of the media.

I had recently finished a medial aid course in my unit, and so was in a position to aid the preacher. His head was slit from forehead to the back, right over the top. He was losing a lot of blood and very weak.

He was telling me that he didn't want to die without his bible, and despite reassurances from me that he wouldn't die he wanted his bible.

I asked the butcher to get me latex gloves and as many towels as he could, he refused. I went behind his counter and got them myself. The o2 shop worker refuse to lend assistance as did the guy from the cycle shop. Both of whom I asked to go look for the preachers bible in the P.O.

During this time the preacher kept asking for his bible, not one of those lads would help. But an old lady approached and asked "can I help you son". I told her the guys bible had fallen from his pocket in the P.O. and he was looking for it, I also told her the other guys had refused to get it.

Without hessitation the lady stepped in through the plate glass window and retrieved the bible. The preacher was happy then and told me he didn't mind dying now.

The guards arrived and the rest is posted above.

Santosubito, did we not have this conversation in the Ardmore one night or was that another reporter I'm thinking about?.

***The guy pictured on the front of The Star is the guy from the o2 shop***.

santosubito

Mairt wrote: »

Santosubito, did we not have this conversation in the Ardmore one night or was that another reporter I'm thinking about?.

***The guy pictured on the front of The Star is the guy from the o2 shop***.

Eh, I don't think so, but it was three years ago. Sure you might want to check your pm box.

arybvtcw0eolkf

santosubito wrote: »

Eh, I don't think so, but it was three years ago. Sure you might want to check your pm box.

Thanks, very interesting indeed!.

TheNog

Couple of days ago a fella rang the station looking for the number of another station and I oblige him then he says:

Him: Why isn;t the number in my phone book
Me: Which phone book do you have?
Him: The 05 book
Me: Its because the station is in the 04 area code
Him: It should be in this book. All stations should be in all phone books
Me: Well thats true
Him: Will you get onto the Eircom and get it sorted.
Me: *brief pause* Yeeaaah

AlekSmart

Quoue from Irish Times report.

"In May 2005 when a "brave but foolhardy" Congolese lay preacher pinned him to the ground, a knife fell out of Higgins's pocket after both came through the window of a post office he had tried to rob."

Therin lies the key phrase which cuts to the bone (sorry!) of the issue.

Why I wonder did an Irish Times sub-editor feel the need to add the "BUT FOOLHARDY" rider to the descrition of the Preacher.
Would it have killed the Irish Times to just leave it at Brave ?

Interesting too,in the light of the Kylemore Road case that all of this convicts crimes or attempts therat merited him a greater sentance than the other individual who killed TWO innocent persons.

Whilst as other posters point out,we are dependent on Judges rules,sentencing policy and that hoary old chesnut,precedence we constantly find Judges operating at wildly opposite ends of whatever spectrum they are able to view through.

santosubito

AlekSmart wrote: »

Quoue from Irish Times report.

"In May 2005 when a "brave but foolhardy" Congolese lay preacher pinned him to the ground, a knife fell out of Higgins's pocket after both came through the window of a post office he had tried to rob."

Therin lies the key phrase which cuts to the bone (sorry!) of the issue.

Why I wonder did an Irish Times sub-editor feel the need to add the "BUT FOOLHARDY" rider to the descrition of the Preacher.
Would it have killed the Irish Times to just leave it at Brave ?

Well, I imagine that was not a sub editor, rather the court reporter who wrote the piece. And I would imagine that because it is in direct quotation marks, it is therefore a direct quote from the judge, or perhaps a barrister in the case. So it's not the wisest thing to change a quote from a judge.

TheNog

That comment just really shows what type of a society we have become, a society that detaches itself from wrongdoing and the horrible/terrible things that we see. instead of doing something about it we step over it and continue on with our busy day.

The man saw something and decided to act on it. That is what I call brave, not foolhardy

eroo

TheNog wrote: »

The man saw something and decided to act on it. That is what I call brave, not foolhardy

Well, true in certain cases. But look where bravery got Alan Cunniffe.

TheNog

eroo wrote: »

Well, true in certain cases. But look where bravery got Alan Cuiniffe.

Who is he?

eroo

The postmaster who was shot dead while pursuing an armed robber on foot.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/man-shot-dead-as-he-chased-post-raider-63797.html

My apologies, I spelt his name wrong.

TheNog

I remember that alright. It was a tragedy what happened and thankfully quite rare too. What Alan Cunniffe did that day was what he believed to be right, unfortunately he died doing it.

deadwood

TheNog wrote: »

Couple of days ago a fella rang the station looking for the number of another station and I oblige him then he says:

Him: Why isn;t the number in my phone book
Me: Which phone book do you have?
Him: The 05 book
Me: Its because the station is in the 04 area code
Him: It should be in this book. All stations should be in all phone books
Me: Well thats true
Him: Will you get onto the Eircom and get it sorted.
Me: *brief pause* Yeeaaah

"All these numbers are in the green pages of your phone book but are for Garda use only, so don't even think of looking it up there."
He'll have the number in seconds.