A MAN robbed a filling station of €18,000 of cigarettes while he was on bail for exposing himself and threatening to rape a man, a court heard.
Michael Nevin, (20), Yeats Avenue, Southill, appeared before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on guilty pleas to a litany of crimes.
The court heard that on May 16, 2023, Nevin told a man who he chased into an off-licence premises at Roches Street: “I will rape you and shove this bottle up your arse.”
Nevin, and co-accused Joe AKA Joseph Connole, (21), Collins Avenue, Limerick City, both pleaded guilty to one count of violent disorder on a full facts basis.
Prosecuting barrister, John O’Sullivan, instructed by State Solicitor Padraig Mawe, and assisted by Sergeant Chris McGrath, said Nevin and Connole threatened a 30-year old man at Parnell Street earlier on the night, whom they had a personal dispute with.
The man told the two accused, plus a third man who was not before the court: “One by one, come to me, I will fuck you up.”
The two accused chased the man inside the off licence and brandished bottles at him.
When the store manager asked Nevin and Connole to leave, Connole picked up a can of beer and threw it at the injured party.
Later on, the two accused returned to the store, Nevin arrived as a passenger in a group of motorcyclists who were wearing balaclavas and one of whom was carrying a baton.
Nevin attempted to gain entry to the off licence and while standing outside the premises “he exposes his penis and shakes it”, said Mr O’Sullivan.
The victim told gardai that Connole issued a number of threats to kill him and that Nevin told him he would rape him.
Nevin smirked and chuckled as the evidence was read in court by Mr O’Sullivan.
CCTV footage of the interactions between both accused and the victim were played in court.
Nevin told gardai after his arrest that the victim had made smart comments.
When gardai asked Nevin how he thought he looked in the cctv footage, he replied: “Maybe as if I was gonna kill someone.”
Connole told gardai he had made threats against the man “in the heat of the moment”.
Liam Carroll BL and Yvonne Quinn BL, barristers for Nevin and Connole respectively, told the court that, at the time, their clients had no prior convictions, that they had identified themselves on CCTV, cooperated with gardai and that they had apologised to the victim.
Mr Carroll said Nevin had had a difficult upbringing, he had abused alcohol and drugs, and he had never had a positive male role model growing up.
Sgt McGrath agreed with Ms Quinn that Connole had a good work history in the construction industry, that he was never in trouble before or since, and that he found him to be “a gentleman” in all his dealings with him.
Nevin was also before the court on signed guilty pleas to burglary, criminal damage and possessing burglary tools, during a robbery of €18,000 of cigarettes at Adams forecourt premises, Glin, Co Limerick, on September 9, 2025.
Prosecuting barrister, Lily Buckley, instructed by State Solicitor, Brendan Gill, and assisted by Detective Garda Neil O’Gorman, said Nevin, and others not before the court, used an electrical grinder and a sledgehammer to gain entry to the premises causing €10,000 damage.
At the time, Nevin was on bail for the violent disorder.
Gardai played CCTV footage in court of the robbery which showed Nevin falling from the gang’s getaway car as it sped away from the filling station, as gardai and a member of staff arrived on the scene.
Judge Colin Daly said he would pass sentence in respect of both cases on April 21.