A North Belfast man, Ruairi Fintan Muldoon, 31, has been sentenced to 12 months in prison with an additional 12 months on supervised release for a botched attempt to rob a taxi driver.
Muldoon, a former chef, initially failed to appear for his trial in March 2023 but later surrendered to police and pleaded guilty to the robbery charge.
The court heard that on May 30th, 2023, Muldoon took a taxi from Chichester Gardens to Hopefield Avenue.
After exiting the vehicle, he requested to change a £20 note but upon seeing the driver's limited change, Muldoon violently attempted to steal the money box.
The taxi driver, fearing for his life, reported punches thrown and threats before Muldoon fled the scene empty-handed.
Despite admitting to the taxi ride, Muldoon denied the robbery attempt during police questioning.
A pre-sentence report indicated a high risk of Muldoon re-offending, and the court noted he was already under probation and a suspended sentence for previous offences.
The court heard Muldoon has 40 previous convictions, including four entries for burglaries and ten for thefts.
Defence barrister, Kelly Doherty, argued the attempted robbery involved a small sum and minimal physical harm.
Judge Philip Gilpin, however, emphasised the violent nature of the crime, its targeting of a taxi driver while working and the psychological impact on the victim.
In a letter handed into court, Muldoon wrote that he wanted to apologise to the taxi driver ''for what I did to him that night''.
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