Former boxer with gambling, drug, and drink problems jailed for Dublin burglaries

Natasha Reid

A former professional boxer with a stellar career and unbeaten record has been jailed for more than five years for two burglaries in Dublin last year.

In one of the burglaries, Tony Bates, who is originally from Clondalkin, punched the occupant of a house and threatened him with a knife. In the other, he stole packages from the post room of an apartment block.

The 37-year-old of no fixed abode was before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary on April 24th, 2025, at an address on Mount Pleasant Avenue Lower in Dublin 6.

An assault, trespass and obstructing a police officer committed on the same occasion were taken into account.

Bates also pleaded guilty to burglary, trespass and theft at Pembroke Square Apartments on Grand Canal Street on January 20th, 2025, along with possession of a stolen debit card, resident’s permit and Austrian identity card at the same location.

Garda Andras Leginszki testified that Bates had followed a resident into Pembroke Square Apartments, where he went into the post room and stole two sets of keys and a package.

He later returned and used the stolen keys to enter and steal another package from the post room.

He was apprehended, charged and bailed.

Garda Alison Egan told the court that the incident in April occurred when Bates went to the home of a man he had previously known socially and asked for drugs.

The man explained that he didn’t sell drugs, but Bates became extremely aggressive and punched him, knocking him over.

Bates then entered his home, shouting at the man that he had to give him something. The man gave him €25 in cash from his wallet and pleaded with him, saying he didn’t have anything else to give him. However, Bates searched the apartment and took a pack of prescription tablets.

He then took a knife wrapped in white tissue from his pocket, and began waving it at the victim, saying that he needed to give Bates more respect.

Garda Egan said that the man was scared for his life and begged him to leave.

Around the same time, a neighbour contacted gardaí, having noticed Bates acting strangely. Gda Egan explained that he was in the area for a number of hours that afternoon.

Gardaí arrived and searched Bates, finding another person’s driving licence on him, along with a bank card in someone else’s name. He didn’t give any explanation for possessing that property.

As he was being arrested, he was seen putting something wrapped in white cloth into a bin. It was found to be a knife, a photograph of which was handed into court.

The court heard that Bates had been a very successful boxer, with a stellar career in Australia, and had won a competition in Russia as recently as 2024.

However, in more recent years, he had become addicted to gambling, alcohol and cocaine.

Oisin Clarke, defending, told the court that the offending at Pembroke Square had been opportunistic and haphazard, where he seemed to take whatever was available, the majority of which were completely worthless.

“It’s a relatively sad case,” he said. “He was just shy of his 35th birthday when he first came to the attention of gardaí.”

He said that he was a hard worker from a decent, hardworking family.

“In a short space of time, things had gone spectacularly wrong,” he said.

Counsel read from newspaper reports, which said that Bates had turned professional as a boxer in 2011 and had an unblemished record of 12 - 0 for a while, pointing to the considerable amount of discipline that would have been required.

“He was clearly a productive member of society,” he said.

However, Mr Clarke noted that he’d had a gambling addiction for a time.

“It has a way of wiping people out,” he said.

Bates had conquered this addiction until his father died in 2024 after his sepsis was misdiagnosed.

“That caused a spiral in terms of gambling,”

The court heard that he was intoxicated when arrested for both crimes.

“He’s having an incredibly difficult time in custody,” said Counsel. “He has been the victim of two assaults. He had a portion of his ear bitten off, required surgery and spent three days in hospital.”

Judge Orla Crowe noted his prowess as a boxer, when she recalled that he had punched his victim. She also said that the man must have been terrified when Bates took out a knife.

She said his offending was all underpinned by strikingly unfortunate circumstances, where an international sportsperson with ‘an unusually high level of talent’ had developed a gambling, drug and drink problem and lost his father suddenly.

She imposed a sentence of two years and three months for the Pembroke Square offences and a consecutive four-year sentence for the Mount Pleasant Avenue offences.

However, she suspended the final 12 months for two years and put him under the supervision of the probation services for one year post-release.