THE stabbing of a shopping centre security guard in the leg, yards from a garda station, over “some jelly babies and a chocolate bar”, has resulted in a teenager being jailed for two and half years.
Ryan Kelly, 19, of no fixed abode but originally from Limerick City stole the confectionary from the Roxboro Road Shopping centre on April 5 this year.
He was caught by security staff trying to leave the shop without paying. As he was being restrained, he pulled a knife and stabbed the security guard in the thigh.
Gardai were called to the scene after Kelly fled and they found the security guard, wounded and leaning against a blood soaked wall.
Prosecution Counsel John O’Sullivan said it was only then that the guard realised he had been “stabbed in a most sneaky and underhand way.” The victim, who is in his 30s, has recovered physically but is still quite scarred mentally.
At Limerick Circuit Court last week, Kelly pleaded guilty to assault causing harm of the security guard.
The court was told of Kelly’s difficult family upbringing and his bi-polar condition for which he was receiving medical treatment.
Taking this into account, Judge Moran said that he would suspend a portion of a prison sentence but it was a source of considerable worry that the serious stabbing arose over some jelly babies and a chocolate bar and that Kelly confessed he always carried a knife.
He imposed a four year prison sentence but suspended the last 18 months.
