Getaway driver for Monaghan town phone shop burglary says he intends to leave Ireland and not return

The getaway driver for a Monaghan town phone shop burglary says he intends to leave Ireland and not return.

31 year old Ion Dulman of no fixed abode was described as “holding the can” for his co-accused, who are still at large.

He has pleaded guilty to charges of criminal damage and burglary at the Three phone shop in Church Square on February 8^th.

At around 2.30am, four masked men broke into the shop with a sledgehammer and made their way to the stock room where they filled a duvet cover with over €30,000 worth of phones and other technology equipment.

The court heard that they swapped vehicles at Clontibret Church and when stopped at a Garda checkpoint about 20 minutes after the burglary, Dulman was nervous and had no licence or documentation on him.

A search of the car found the stolen items in a saleable condition, and all five occupants were arrested.

When charged, the Romanian national replied that he wasn’t inside the shop and made full admissions about what happened and named the other participants.

He’s pleaded guilty to criminal damage to the shop door and burglary of the items.4

Ion Dulman has 19 previous convictions in nine countries across Europe, however it was noted that a one year prison sentence was his lengthiest penalty and none were in Ireland.

Garda Sexton confirmed Dulman wasn’t the ringleader but was part of an organised burglary.

A letter from Dulman’s wife outlining the family situation was presented to the Court, with it said he came to the country nine days before the incident to seek employment and should have known better and to say no to this type of “so called work”.

Defence Counsel said the man sees this as the “biggest mistake of his life” and it’s his intention to live with his mother in Austria when he’s released from prison in Ireland and never return.

Judge John Aylmer was asked to consider that Ion Dulman previously worked in Ireland for a number of months in 2018, that he was “holding the can” for the four co-accused who are still at large after failing to appear at a District Court sitting on Monday, and that he pleaded guilty at an early stage.

He was remanded in custody until next Wednesday, when a decision will be made on his sentence.