A repeat offender sentenced to 7.5 years for a violent 2025 crime spree in Ireland.

Joseph Rafferty, a 45-year-old with 61 prior convictions, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison—with the final year suspended—for a violent crime spree in April 2025 across Dublin and Wicklow. Identified by a port-wine birthmark, he hijacked a car while the owner was cleaning it at a Walkinstown Circle K, threatening her with death and forcing her to jump from the moving vehicle. He stole her iPhone and dental veneers, then robbed an Applegreen in Rathnew of €800 and attempted a robbery at a Bray Circle K, using a nine-inch stick. Surveillance footage linked him to all locations. The car, phone, and stolen items were never recovered. Judge Orla Crowe called the crimes a targeted, violent series causing lasting trauma, though she acknowledged Rafferty’s guilty plea, remorse, and potential for rehabilitation.