Man accused of three violent muggings in Dublin city to face trial

A man accused of a string of violent robberies along the river Liffey in Dublin, in which men were targeted for valuable jewellery including an €8,500 designer watch, has been sent forward for trial.

Said Haci (39), of Cherry Orchard Drive, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, was served with a book of evidence at Dublin District Court. He faces charges in connection with three alleged robberies on April 25th and 28th.

Judge Michèle Finan granted a return-for-trial order, sending him forward to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court where the case will be listed in January.

Bail was refused following objections from Garda Karl Sheridan, who outlined that the alleged robberies occurred between April 25th and 28th along the same stretch of the Liffey.

At about 1.43am on April 25th, a man was outside the River Bar on Burgh Quay smoking a cigarette when he was approached by three men.

“Each male gave the victim a hug and made an attempt to sell him a watch,” Sheridan told the court.

Haci allegedly removed a watch from a co-conspirator’s wrist and, as the complainant was lighting a cigarette, placed it on to the complainant’s wrist while assisting an accomplice in removing the complainant’s own watch.

The accused allegedly “prevented the [victim] from reaching out to take the watch back” as the accomplice pulled him to the ground. It was alleged Haci swept the victim’s legs and tripped him as he tried to stand up, leaving the injured party with bloody knees and a sore back. The court heard a Cartier Santos watch with a blue face and strap, valued at €8,500, was taken, as well as a €1,500 phone.

The guard alleged that just under an hour later, another man was walking along George’s Quay when he was approached by two males who tried to sell him a watch.

When the man declined, he was “tripped to the ground and had his gold chain snapped from his neck”.

The chain, worth €800, had been a gift from his father. The man sustained superficial injuries and while the suspects fled, CCTV footage was obtained.

Gardaí subsequently searched the defendant’s home and recovered a gold chain.

In a third incident on April 28th at Rosie Hackett Bridge, a man was sitting down when the accused went up to him, punched him in the chest and “snatched” his gold chain. The victim followed the suspect and took a photograph of him, which was handed over to gardaí.

The investigation led officers to a Dublin jewellers that had purchased a broken gold chain. Video evidence obtained from the shop allegedly showed the accused entering and exchanging the chain for cash. The jewellery from that incident was retrieved.

The court heard the accused, an Algerian national, was subject to a deportation order.

Haci had also been in custody six months on remand since his arrest.

In a fresh bail application, defence counsel Aoife Mutch said her client could reside with a relative who had also offered him work in a barber’s shop. The judge refused the application.