Dublin Circuit Court was told that the injuries Gerard Flood sustained while trying to escape were “a source of immediate justice which will remind him in the future of the impact of his actions”
Dublin Circuit Court was told that the injuries Gerard Flood sustained while trying to escape were “a source of immediate justice which will remind him in the future of the impact of his actions”.
Flood (36), from Portland Row in Dublin, limped into court for his sentencing hearing for his involvement in the break-in to a priest’s bedroom at a Carmelite Centre in Dublin.
Flood, who was part of a three-man gang who broke in, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to false imprisonment and burglary at Bloomfield Avenue, Dublin 4 from May 13 to 14, 2024.
Gerard Flood was part of a gang which broke into the Carmelite Centre
News in 90 Seconds – Sunday, November 9th
Sgt Conor Murphy told the court that six priests live in the complex over three floors.
Fr Tom Curran told gardai he went to his bedroom on the third floor at 10.30pm that night and was awoken by sounds at around 11.30pm before three men, including Flood, entered the room.
Fr Curran was still lying in bed while the men ransacked the apartment and shouted: “Where is the money?”
They used a belt to tie up the elderly priest and continued to ransack his room. Flood was armed with a scissors during the break-in.
The gang stole around €2,000 in cash and also took items from the room including a fob used for entry and a key for the room.
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Gerard Flood was part of a gang which broke into the Carmelite Centre
While this was happening another priest had heard the commotion and rang gardai.
The gang locked Fr Curran in his room before trying to get away.
When gardai arrived on the scene, Flood was still in the building and tried to escape. The court heard he jumped or fell from the top floor of the building to the ground and seriously injured himself hitting the ground.
He was still armed with the scissors and gardai shouted: “Drop the scissors”.
He refused to put the scissors down and one of the officers present had to use his extendable baton to disarm Flood.
He had a fob and key for the room in his possession.
The other two gang members managed to get away with the money.
Gardai had to force their way into Fr Curran’s room where he was still tied up on the bed.
Though he was badly shaken up by his ordeal, Fr Curran had not suffered any serious injuries.
However, Flood had to be rushed to hospital after suffering serious injury to his ankle, leg and hip after jumping from the building.
His own barrister said the injuries were “a source of immediate justice which will remind him in the future of the impact of his actions”. He added that Flood “wasn’t the brains behind the operation”.
The court heard Flood had 10 previous convictions for offences including dangerous driving, drink driving, violent behaviour in a garda station, handling stolen property and threatening and abusive behaviour, but that most of his offending took place more than a decade ago.
The court heard in mitigation that his child died from sudden infant death syndrome more than a decade ago which had a major impact on his mental health.
He had written a letter of apology to Fr Curran, who was not present in court for the hearing but had provided a victim impact statement which was not read out.
Judge Martin Nolan said: “Entering a premises such as this and tying up an old man is a serious matter.”
He said the headline sentence was eight years but after taking in mitigating circumstances he sentenced Nolan to four-and-a-half years.
Flood’s mother Bernadette was in court with other family members to support him, and gestured to him as he was being led away.
Earlier this year, Bernadette Flood avoided prison after she was convicted of an incident in which she bit and latched onto a garda during a search at her home.
She had denied assault and obstructing gardai from the Dublin Crime Response Team, which had obtained a warrant to search her home on May 6, 2024.
However, she was found guilty and handed a three-month suspended sentence and a €1,000 fine.