One of two men who mugged two tourists outside the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin with what turned out to be a fake gun has been jailed for three years and nine months.
Paul Heaney, of Michael Mallin House, Dublin 8, wasn’t armed but the judge decided they were engaged in a “joint enterprise” with both playing similar roles.
Italian teacher, Sylvia Piantoni, and one of the 30 teenage students she was taking care of were set upon outside the Guinness Storehouse on October 21st 2019.
Their ordeal was captured on a mobile phone by a quick-thinking passerby. The footage went viral and attracted a lot of media attention at the time.
One of their muggers was armed with a very real-looking gun.
The student handed over €60 and the gun was pointed at Ms Piantoni before another teacher came to her aid.
Paul Heaney wasn’t armed and while the judge accepted he played a lesser role, she refused to accept that he was less culpable, given that it was a “joint enterprise”.
He handed himself in afterwards and has since expressed remorse and regret for what he did.
The 37-year-old was jailed for three years and nine months, while the other man is already serving a four-year sentence.
