Man (38) with 273 convictions jailed over hotel robbery

Eimear Dodd

A man with over 270 previous convictions has been jailed for robbing €10 worth of name badges from a Dublin city centre hotel.

Gary Simpson (38) pleaded guilty to one count of robbery on June 26th, 2025.

He was handed a sentence of three years and nine months, with the final nine months suspended on strict conditions.

Aisling Ginger-Quinn BL, defending, told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that she is instructed that her client experienced trauma while in prison and took a case against the State to the Supreme Court in relation to the practice of slopping out.

Gary Simpson, of North Circular Road, Dublin 7, was let into the hotel in the early hours of June 26th, 2025 and initially asked a staff member if there was a room available.

After being told there were no available rooms, Simpson replied: “Give me the f**king cash.”

The staff member told Simpson there was no cash. Simpson called him a liar, then repeated the demand for money.

Simpson was shown the empty tills before he took a step back and showed the staff member the handle of a knife in his pocket.

He walked behind the desk before going into the back office with the staff member, who had managed to press the panic button.

Simpson continued to make demands for money and threatened the staff member, who was in fear.

In the back office, Simpson looked around the desks, then took €10 worth of blank name badges.

The staff member managed to get away, calling emergency services before running upstairs. No victim impact statement was provided to the court, which heard he has since left his job.

Simpson was identified from CCTV, which was played to the court. He was arrested nearby for a public order offence.

Simpson has 273 previous convictions, including 119 for theft. He is currently serving a sentence and has an earliest release date in January 2027.

During the interview, he apologised and said he did not remember much.  Simpson said he was under the influence of alcohol and having a tough time due to a recent bereavement.

The investigating garda agreed with Ginger-Quinn that the knife was not wielded or pointed at the staff member at any point.

It was accepted that Simpson made admissions, was very apologetic, had long-standing addiction issues and had experienced periods of homelessness.

Ginger-Quinn said her client has a troubled background, developed an addiction to alcohol at a young age and later started to use drugs.

Simpson completed residential treatment in 2023, but relapsed. His family do not engage with him while he is in active addiction, but has indicated they will support him if he remains sober.

Counsel said her client wishes to complete residential treatment to address his addiction.

A letter of apology and other documents were handed to the court.

Judge Orla Crowe noted this must have been a “truly frightening experience” for the hotel staff member. She said the fact that Simpson got very little in the robbery is “neither here nor there”.

She said addiction has “blighted” Simpson’s life, and referring to his previous convictions, she noted that there are a lot of injured parties whose lives were blighted as a result of his addiction.

Having considered Simpson’s personal circumstances and the mitigation, Judge Crowe said the court would structure a sentence to provide support on his release.

Having imposed a sentence of three years and nine months, she suspended the final nine months for two years. The judge directed Simpson to undergo 12 months of probation supervision to assist him with addiction services and vocational training as appropriate.

The sentence was backdated to March 9th last when Simpson pleaded guilty, and Judge Crowe directed that he should be given credit for any time served exclusively on this matter.