Serial burglar who hid under bed from gardaí is jailed

Fiona Ferguson

A serial burglar who hid under a bed when gardaí came to arrest him after he raided staff lockers at a Dublin restaurant has been jailed for three years, with the final six months suspended.

Jamie O’Brien (32) was identified from CCTV by a garda who knew him, while separate footage showed him at the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) the previous day wearing the same clothes.

O’Brien of Blackberry Lane, Delgany, Greystones, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to burglary at Hawksmoor Restaurant, College Green, Dublin 2 on July 25th, 2025.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard O’Brien received a 10-year sentence with the final two years suspended in 2017 for the burglary, assault and false imprisonment of an elderly woman in 2015.

He has a total of 46 previous convictions, including 12 for burglary. He was on bail at the time of this offence.

Garda Darren Reynolds told Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting, that gardai responded to a report of a burglary at the restaurant at about 7.30am on the morning in question.

A staff member prepping the restaurant for the day had disturbed O’Brien as he was rummaging through lockers in a staff room. He ran from the premises taking some property with him.

CCTV

Gda Reynolds said he was able to identify O’Brien from CCTV, and this was further verified by a colleague. He was also able to obtain CCTV from the CCJ where O’Brien had appeared the previous day, and it showed him wearing the same clothing.

The following month gardaí called to O'Brien’s home in Delgany, but he fled out the back of the house. The next day, they returned and were admitted to the house. They found O’Brien attempting to hide under a bed, and he was arrested, interviewed, and charged. He has been in custody since.

Three staff members at the restaurant found they had items missing. These included bank cards, cash and identity cards. None of the property was recovered. There were no victim impact statements made by the victims.

John Temple BL, defending, outlined that his client had gone down the wrong path at a very early stage.

He said O’Brien’s father had left the family home, leaving him without the direction that could have been provided. He said his mother and siblings are supportive of him.

He said O’Brien had significant mental health difficulties and was on a list to be seen by the prison psychological service, which was oversubscribed. He said O’Brien was heavily abusing drugs at the time of this offence but was currently on methadone and antidepressant medication in custody.

He handed in a probation report which had been prepared for an earlier case last year. He asked the court to take into account his client’s guilty plea at the first opportunity and his unreserved apology.

Passing sentence on Wednesday, Judge Elma Sheahan noted O’Brien had a significant history of offending and also considered the contents of the report, as well as O’Brien’s background and personal circumstances.

Judge Sheahan set a headline sentence of five years and, taking into account the “significant” mitigation, imposed a three-year sentence suspending the final six months. She backdated the sentence to reflect time spent in custody.