Man with over 90 previous convictions jailed for Midlands burglary and armed robbery
Judge: “Unfortunately, he has a very, very poor criminal history. "
A man who, alongside his brother, burgled two Westmeath businesses before committing an armed robbery at a filling station is to serve another four and a half years in prison on top of a sentence he is already serving for similar offences.
In June of this year, a jury found Stewart Wyse (31), of Apartment 3, Corbans Mill, Millbrook, Naas, Co Kildare, guilty by majority verdict of two counts of burglary and one count of robbery, which took place on October 28, 2021. He was also guilty of producing a weapon and the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, which he and his brother used to commit the offences.
At a sentencing hearing before Longford Circuit Court, Detective Garda James Grogan of Mullingar Garda Station gave evidence of attending a robbery at a filling station in Rathconnell.
He was told by the proprietor of the business that two males had entered the premises early that morning. One had used a screwdriver to threaten staff, while the other used a clawhammer to break open a till before making off with €400.
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The pair made their escape in a wine-coloured Volkswagen Polo, which Gardaí later learned had been taken without permission from an elderly neighbour.
While Gardaí were dealing with the robbery report, they received a call about a burglary at a veterinary clinic in Kinnegad, where it was reported the door had been smashed open and the premises had been burgled.
CCTV at the clinic showed two males entering shortly after 4.30am. Two items were removed from the premises - an iPad and an iPhone.
The males were dressed in the same clothes as the suspects who had robbed the filling station and Gardaí were able to confirm that they were the same men.
While Gardaí were finishing up at the veterinary clinic, they received another call regarding a burglary at a nearby hair salon.
It was reported that a rock was used to smash the back window, the premises had been ransacked and a number of items were taken.
The proprietor later got a call regarding the property, which had been found and, when the items were recovered, blood samples were taken.
“It transpired one of the accused’s DNA matched the scene of the vet clinic and the items that were found,” said Det Gda Grogan, adding that it was the DNA of Mr Wyse’s brother, who has already been sentenced.
A warrant was sought to search the home of Mr Wyse and the stolen property from the vet clinic was found there. Both brothers were arrested and the key to the Polo was found in Stewart Wyse’s pocket.
A sum of €300 was found in the possession of Mr Wyse’s brother. A Nike hat was also seized and glass fragments from the two burglary scenes were discovered on it.
The stolen property was returned to the vet clinic and insurance companies for all three targeted businesses covered the cost of the damage, meaning they did not suffer financial loss.
Mr Stewart is very well known to Gardaí in Naas and Newbridge, the court heard, and has a large number of previous convictions - 92 in total, which include 29 convictions for burglary, 42 for road traffic matters, three for public order offences, 14 for criminal damage, four for theft and one for robbery.
Mr Wyse is currently serving a three year prison sentence, with three months suspended, for robbery, which was imposed at Naas Circuit Court in July of 2023.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Tim Kennelly, told the court that Mr Wyse was the son of two “chronic alcoholics” and, as a result of that, he “didn’t have an upbringing that one would see as being conventional”.
There was never any cruelty or badness directed at him from his parents, Mr Kennelly explained, but they were simply “completely incapable of parenting”.
As a result, Mr Wyse was taken into care and he would regularly escape and run home to his parents.
“He has been in custody since December 2021 and he’s not going to see the cold light of day until April 2025 at the earliest,” said Mr Kennelly.
“So he’s had a considerable amount of time to reflect and marinade on his actions. His mother died of cancer while he was in prison and his behaviour put him in a position where he wasn’t there to nurture and care for her.”
Mr Wyse also has an eight-year-old daughter who is “the apple of his eye”, and his partner is “a lovely girl with no previous convictions.
“Stewart has turned a massive corner. He’s been in custody since 2021 so I can’t back that up, but he’s had years now to consider this behaviour. That offence happened within four weeks of the offence he’s about to be sentenced for,” said Mr Kennelly.
“He has grown up a lot. He’s missed a significant portion of his daughter’s life and he knows what it’s like to have an absent parent. He accepts his behaviour was completely wrong and he has learned sincere empathy now, having run the trial.”
Judge Kenneth Connolly, who sat through the four-day trial in June and heard all the evidence put forward by the prosecution, said he cannot give Mr Wyse credit for accepting his guilt due to the fact the case went to trial.
“The very obvious difficulty is that you said he accepts his guilt and, in the face of overwhelming evidence, where he expressly accepted his guilt to all charges, he still exercised his right to take a jury trial,” said Judge Connolly.
“He has a staggering previous record, and the only mitigation in this case is that he had a poor childhood. He took his chances (with a trial) and it didn’t work out.”
A probation report assessed Mr Wyse at being of “very high risk” of reoffending in the next 12 months if he does not address a number of issues.
Judge Connolly noted that there are four risk categories in a report - low, moderate, high and very high. Mr Wyse has been assessed in the fourth category.
“I can only go on what my client instructs me and Stewart was in the throes of a deep addiction. He was on heroin and that is a drug that, once it gets into you, it takes over. He’s not on heroin anymore,” said Mr Kennelly.
“Well the probation report says he’s still continuing to use cannabis,” Judge Connolly shot back.
“He was a chronic heroin addict to the point that any time I was making a bail application on his behalf, I was worried I’d get a call from the Gardaí saying ‘your client is dead’. But he’s clean of heroin,” said Mr Kennelly.
“Unfortunately, he has a very, very poor criminal history. He has amassed 92 previous convictions, which is an absolutely dreadful record. He reached the age of majority in October 2010 and was already offending with his first custodial sentence in around September 2011, when he was almost 19 years old,” said Judge Connolly.
“Unfortunately, since his 19th year, he has continued to offend and he seems to have a series of convictions for every period he was out of prison. It seems that, for any period he has his liberty, he commits an offence.
“I hope it is true he’s turned a corner, but he has to face the consequences of these actions before he can prove Mr Kennelly right.”
Due to the serious nature of the robbery, the premeditation, the level of violence and the use of a weapon, Judge Connolly set a sentence of six years on that count. He also imposed a sentence of two years for the production of a clawhammer.
For the burglary of the veterinary clinic, he imposed a sentence of 20 months, and marked the burglary of the hair salon as taken into consideration.
Finally, for the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, Mr Wyse was disqualified from driving for a period of 15 years.
The custodial sentences will run concurrently to each other, meaning a total of six years were imposed. However, Judge Connolly said “I regrettably feel it is appropriate to make that sentence consecutive to the sentence already being served, which expires in April 2025”.
“If I leave matters as they are, he’ll have a release date of some time in 2031, which could be considered unjust,” he said.
With that in mind, he suspended the final 18 months of the sentence for a period of three years, subject to a lengthy list of conditions, including a probation bond.
Finally, Judge Connolly gave him credit for eleven weeks already served in custody on these particular charges, and made a destruction order for the clawhammer.