‘No silly games’ - Panic alarm activated at Waterford store after man enters with knife and steals cash
Londis, St. John's Park
“No silly games.”
This is what a man armed with a knife said to a young cashier who was working late in Londis at St. John's Park, Waterford city, during a robbery.
As the hooded man snatched the cash from the register, the cashier discretely pressed a panic button, prompting the arrival of gardaí to the scene.
By this point the robber had fled, prompting a garda investigation, which led to his arrest a number of days later.
The man is 26-year-old Damien Myles, with addreses at Kilcohan Park, Waterford and Beckett Street, Manchester, United Kingdom.
He was sentenced to prison last week in Waterford Circuit Criminal Court.
On the date of the robbery at approximately 9:23pm, Damien Myles entered Londis in St. John’s Park, dressed in all black clothing with his hood up.
The man spent approximately eight minutes loitering in the store. He browsed items, spoke to the cashier, bought a pack of jellies and left.
Around 12 minutes later, he returned.
He briefly browsed the store again. This raised suspicions with the cashier.
Myles spoke briefly to the cashier about the price of drinks in the store before quickly barging his way behind the cashier desk and revealing a Stanley knife.
He pointed the knife at the cashier and demanded money, telling him: “No silly games.”
The cashier opened the till and Myles took approximately €280 in cash.
While doing so, the cashier pressed a panic alarm.
Myles fled the scene.
Gardaí began analysing CCTV footage in the area.
A Garda officer reviewing the footage identified the suspect as being Damien Myles. Gardaí called to his home to arrest him.
He was interviewed twice at Waterford Garda Station and made full admissions.
In a victim impact statement provided to the court, the cashier working that night said the Londis store is mainly frequented by locals to the area, who would usually say hello when they enter.
He said his suspicions arose on the night when Myles entered and did not say anything, he just stared.
“Everyone knows everyone in the area, and I never thought this would happen,” he said.
The cashier said he was very scared during the ordeal.
He said he is now always looking over his shoulder, even when dealing with regular customers to the store.
In the weeks following the incident, he said he felt nervous and asked that his work schedule be altered so that he wouldn’t have to work nights.
The court was told last week that Myles has 67 previous convictions, the majority of which were committed in England.
The man’s defence solicitor, Gareth Hayden BL, said his client was under serious pressure with a drug debt at the time of the incident in Waterford.
The court was told that he was paying a weekly debt to pay off €5,000.
Mr. Hayden said his client used half of the money stolen from the store on the night towards paying off the debt. The other half was used to buy crack cocaine.
Judge Eugene O’Kelly, presiding over Waterford Circuit Court, previously granted the man an entirely suspended sentence on a previous robbery matter that came before the court, on the grounds that he would engage with the probation service.
The man did not engage with the service and fled to the UK.
Whilst there, he committed a large number of new offences before returning to Ireland.
“He made a fool of the court and probation service,” Judge O’Kelly said last week.
For the offence committed at Londis, Judge O'Kelly sentenced Myles to serve a prison sentence of three years and nine months, with the final nine months suspended.
