Garda convicted of attempted armed robbery.

newmug · 05-03-2011 07:36PM

MardiB wrote: »

Don't be so harsh, he was found guilty alright but the sentence was suspended. He is an alcoholic who lost his house, his marriage, his career and now has a prison record. He is not exactly living the dream....

So what? What does that have to do with anything? Plenty of people are in worse circumstances and dont try to rob shops:mad:

Bosco boy · 05-03-2011 08:04PM

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Nope. Hes a little scummy shyte.

Ye might have alot in common!

MardiB · 05-03-2011 10:55PM

newmug wrote: »

So what? What does that have to do with anything? Plenty of people are in worse circumstances and dont try to rob shops:mad:

The point being he was found guilty and sentenced, albeit suspended, he didn't get away with it.

Dyr · 05-03-2011 11:02PM

Is he an irish citizen would be a more interesting question

pragmatic1 · 05-03-2011 11:27PM

Bosco boy wrote: »

Ye might have alot in common!

Dont project your own insecurities on me.

biko · 05-03-2011 11:37PM

Bosco boy wrote: »

Ye might have alot in common!

Careful now

Offy · 05-03-2011 11:43PM

Its typical of the country we live. He should be sent to general pop along with 50% of his work mates.

Bosco boy · 06-03-2011 12:16AM

Offy wrote: »

Its typical of the country we live. He should be sent to general pop along with 50% of his work mates.

Are you allowed up late on saturday nights!

Bosco boy · 06-03-2011 01:25AM

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Dont project your own insecurities on me.

I wouldnt dream of it, you've enough of your own!

biko · 06-03-2011 01:41AM

Don't post in this thread again Bosco boy.

HavingCrack · 06-03-2011 01:52AM

I'm generally in favour of a carrot and stick approach to crime which includes heavy sentences for violent crime. However in this case sending the man to prison wouldn't achieve anything other than the mob getting their pound of flesh. He's lost his job, his home and addicted to alcohol, hardly living the life of reilly to be fair. He's also not a career criminal if he used to be in the guards. I've seen people with 37 convictions get suspended sentences and that gets me a lot more annoyed than this does. We also have a seriously overcrowded prison system (thread for another day) that hardly needs another prisoner.

Honestly what would sending him to prison do to lower crime in this country? Act as a deterrant? Unlikely. Punish him? Yeah it could do that but it doesn't really achieve anything. Rehabilitate him? Maybe but he isn't a hardened criminal in need of 'help'...

Naikon · 06-03-2011 02:32AM

Rehabilitation does not appear to apply in this country. If that were true, spent convictions would exist. How can you expect people to reform when the system continues to place roadblocks in front of past offenders?

Sonnenblumen · 06-03-2011 11:27AM

letsbehonest wrote: »

He is only human.
The man clearly has problems and we here know nothing about him or what he has being through in his life. He went down the wrong path and now he has lost his job and his reputation.

This man deserves little sympathy but plenty of hard labour.

He was a serving member of AGS a the time. To hell with the life story, losing his job, he committed a serious crime.

He's much worse than the usual perpetrators and regret that the judge was so lenient.:(

Hunter Mahan · 06-03-2011 11:44AM

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

This man deserves little sympathy but plenty of hard labour.

He was a serving member of AGS a the time. To hell with the life story, losing his job, he committed a serious crime.

He's much worse than the usual perpetrators and regret that the judge was so lenient.:(

He was not a serving member of AGS at the time as you put it, he had been AWOL for 5 months prior..
It amazes me how people jump to conclusions and make statements without knowing the facts, ridiculous.

The man has a disease, first offence, guilty plea and expressed remorse... a suspended sentence is about the norm in this country in such instances.

Sonnenblumen · 06-03-2011 12:28PM

Hunter Mahan wrote: »

He was not a serving member of AGS at the time as you put it, he had been AWOL for 5 months prior..
It amazes me how people jump to conclusions and make statements without knowing the facts, ridiculous.

The man has a disease, first offence, guilty plea and expressed remorse... a suspended sentence is about the norm in this country in such instances.

Picking hairs are we? Serving or not, the State invested in and trained this individual to uphold the law, not break it!! The fact he has a drink problem is a cop-out and not sufficient. Sorry but I would be much harsher in dealing with serving or former serving AGS members. Armed robbery is a very serious offence irrespective of what are the contributing factors.

BTW, the article reads as ..."A garda with a chronic drink problem who lost his job after attempting to rob a shop.."

Back to the reading class for you!:P

Hunter Mahan · 06-03-2011 12:53PM

It's not me picking hairs, you turned a story about a Garda losing his job because of an attempted robbery into a serving member of AGS losing his job etc etc..

I have a personal interest in the case as I covered it for work, he was absent without leave for 5 months as it appears he was in trouble with work as a result of his alcoholism.

Attempted Robbery and Robbery are 2 separate charges that can be brought before the judicial system and therefore can carry different sentencing options for a judge.

In the eyes of the law all are equal, and your view that a person who works for the State should be treated differently to any other citizen is just sensationalist tabloid gibberish.

The sentence passed down was neither lenient or harsh but typical..

I can only hope that for your sake that you or anyone close to you never hits rock bottom, because you are in for a rude awakening..

old_aussie · 06-03-2011 12:57PM

Send him to Australia as his punishment!

man.about.town · 06-03-2011 01:02PM

the fact he was a garda should have nothing to do with the case or the sentencing

letsbehonest · 06-03-2011 01:32PM

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

BTW, the article reads as ..."A garda with a chronic drink problem who lost his job after attempting to rob a shop.."

Back to the reading class for you!:P

If you actually read it it says he wasn't serving in the force for over five months at the time of the incident. This shows us that the man was taking time off work at the time because he knew he had a problem.
Back to reading class for you!:D

Sonnenblumen · 06-03-2011 01:39PM

Hunter Mahan wrote: »

It's not me picking hairs, you turned a story about a Garda losing his job because of an attempted robbery into a serving member of AGS losing his job etc etc..

I have a personal interest in the case as I covered it for work, he was absent without leave for 5 months as it appears he was in trouble with work as a result of his alcoholism.

Attempted Robbery and Robbery are 2 separate charges that can be brought before the judicial system and therefore can carry different sentencing options for a judge.

In the eyes of the law all are equal, and your view that a person who works for the State should be treated differently to any other citizen is just sensationalist tabloid gibberish.

The sentence passed down was neither lenient or harsh but typical..

I can only hope that for your sake that you or anyone close to you never hits rock bottom, because you are in for a rude awakening..

For starters, no one believes we're all equal. That's pious nonsense akin to fairy tales. Why are you misquoting me. I said he was a member,m you said he wasn't and I corrected you! It doesn't matter, a crooked cop is worse than a common criminal and yes I believe it should be taken into account. A drink 'illness' is no excuse. Should a Postman be treated differently to a Garda before the court? If the charge is serious as attempted robbery? Absolutely yes! A Gard is trained to defend the law and any breaches should be more sewverely punished. Also why if ill was the person AWOL for 5 months? Paid or not?

I have of course sympathy for anyone suffering any illness, but canot see much mitigation in this case.

Tabloid sensationalism? That's crap, smacks more of poor handling and IMO lenient sentencing.

man.about.town · 06-03-2011 01:41PM

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

For starters, no one believes we're all equal. That's pious nonsense akin to fairy tales. Why are you misquoting me. I said he was a member,m you said he wasn't and I corrected you! It doesn't matter, a crooked cop is worse than a common criminal and yes I believe it should be taken into account. A drink 'illness' is no excuse. Should a Postman be treated differently to a Garda before the court? If the charge is serious as attempted robbery? Absolutely yes! A Gard is trained to defend the law and any breaches should be more sewverely punished. Also why if ill was the person AWOL for 5 months? Paid or not?

I have of course sympathy for anyone suffering any illness, but canot see much mitigation in this case.

Tabloid sensationalism? That's crap, smacks more of poor handling and IMO lenient sentencing.

actually as a judge said to the jury in the robbie mccallion case, "Don’t be carried away by the fact that he was a garda".... so it goes both ways really

heres the link : http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0205/1224289076039.html

Sonnenblumen · 06-03-2011 01:48PM

letsbehonest wrote: »

If you actually read it it says he wasn't serving in the force for over five months at the time of the incident. This shows us that the man was taking time off work at the time because he knew he had a problem.
Back to reading class for you!:D

"A garda with a chronic drink problem who lost his job after attempting to rob a shop with an imitation firearm has been given a three-year suspended jail term."

and it goes on...........

"Det Sgt Treacy agreed with defence barrister, Donal O'Sullivan, BL, that the robbery was an act of desperation and Boersma had now lost everything including his job in the gardaí."

Here's the link, perhaps you've a different version?
:pac:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0304/boersmam.html

letsbehonest · 06-03-2011 01:50PM

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

For starters, no one believes we're all equal. That's pious nonsense akin to fairy tales. Why are you misquoting me. I said he was a member,m you said he wasn't and I corrected you! It doesn't matter, a crooked cop is worse than a common criminal and yes I believe it should be taken into account. A drink 'illness' is no excuse. Should a Postman be treated differently to a Garda before the court? If the charge is serious as attempted robbery? Absolutely yes! A Gard is trained to defend the law and any breaches should be more sewverely punished. Also why if ill was the person AWOL for 5 months? Paid or not?

I have of course sympathy for anyone suffering any illness, but canot see much mitigation in this case.

Tabloid sensationalism? That's crap, smacks more of poor handling and IMO lenient sentencing.

You don't know what basic human rights are!

letsbehonest · 06-03-2011 01:54PM

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

"A garda with a chronic drink problem who lost his job after attempting to rob a shop with an imitation firearm has been given a three-year suspended jail term."

and it goes on...........

"Det Sgt Treacy agreed with defence barrister, Donal O'Sullivan, BL, that the robbery was an act of desperation and Boersma had now lost everything including his job in the gardaí."

Here's the link, perhaps you've a different version?
:pac:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0304/boersmam.html

The point that a lot of here are trying to make to is that he wasn't serving in the Gardai at time of the incident. We are not saying he had his job lost then but he wasn't working in the Gardai at the time.

geeky · 06-03-2011 02:06PM

I think the victim impact statement from the shopkeeper - saying how she bore him no ill-feeling and didn't think a jail sentence was the right way to go - is worth noting if we're looking at how lenient the sentence seems.

The woman deserves credit for having a genuinely unselfish attitude to the incident, not sure I'd be as charitable.

man.about.town · 06-03-2011 02:14PM

geeky wrote: »

I think the victim impact statement from the shopkeeper - saying how she bore him no ill-feeling and didn't think a jail sentence was the right way to go - is worth noting if we're looking at how lenient the sentence seems.

The woman deserves credit for having a genuinely unselfish attitude to the incident, not sure I'd be as charitable.

a very important point

Sonnenblumen · 06-03-2011 05:20PM

letsbehonest wrote: »

You don't know what basic human rights are!

Which rights would they be?

The Shopowner's rights to carry on a legitimate business in a responsible and safe way and not be threatened with a firearm?

Or, an employee's right to a safe work environment and not be threatened by an armed robber ?

Or the citizen's rights to go about their daily lives in a safe community free from armed robbers?

Or the rights of taxpayers to safe and responsive delivery of services by all public servants?

Dyr · 06-03-2011 05:46PM

geeky wrote: »

I think the victim impact statement from the shopkeeper - saying how she bore him no ill-feeling and didn't think a jail sentence was the right way to go - is worth noting if we're looking at how lenient the sentence seems.

The woman deserves credit for having a genuinely unselfish attitude to the incident, not sure I'd be as charitable.

Saying how she'd rather not get on the wrong side of the biggest gang in the country more like

J K · 06-03-2011 06:16PM

Sonnenblu you're quoting a second hand source. Increasing the font doesn't change the fact that it's just the understanding of a journalist of the situation. Their view could be as biased or inaccurate as yours.

If the guy was long since off the payrole and hadn't showed up to work in over half a year you could say he was defacto out of a job. The legal formalities of dismissing him take longer.

This guy got the usual. From the courts. No better no worse. Which is about right. Why should he get worse because some people like you hate cops

A suspended sentence is standard course in this country for first time offenders, where judge also considers a person has suffered by screwing their life and loosing their home, income and marriage. This is the standard applied every day in every court in the country. Go visit your local politician if you want to change the laws of the country.

letsbehonest · 06-03-2011 06:25PM

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Which rights would they be?

The Shopowner's rights to carry on a legitimate business in a responsible and safe way and not be threatened with a firearm?

Or, an employee's right to a safe work environment and not be threatened by an armed robber ?

Or the citizen's rights to go about their daily lives in a safe community free from armed robbers?

Or the rights of taxpayers to safe and responsive delivery of services by all public servants?

You need to brush up on these!
List of human rights

Not everyone agrees on what the basic human rights are. Here is a list of some of the most recognized ones:
Right to live, exist.
Right to have a family
To work for anyone
To own property
Free Speech
Social Security
Safety from violence
Protection from the law
Equality of both sex and women's rights
Fair trial
To be innocent until proven guilty
To be a citizen of a country
The right to express his sexual orientation
To keep own's own gender identity and rights to have or not to have a surgery
To vote
To seek asylum if a country treats you badly
To think freely
To believe and practice the religion a person wants
To peacefully protest (speak against) a government or group
Health care (medical care)
Education
Eat/drink
To communicate through a language
Not be forced into marriage
To pursue happiness
Not to be forced to do something you do not wish to do

Garda convicted of attempted armed robbery.

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