A hijacker who threatened to cut a motorist’s throat with a Stanley knife before taking his car in West Belfast has been jailed.
Judge Sandra Crawford told Roy Irvine that he will spend half the 42-month sentence in custody and the remainder on supervised licence.
Irvine (28), of Whitecliff Parade in west Belfast, had previously pleaded guilty to hijacking a car, burglary and driving with no insurance.
Belfast Crown Court heard that on the morning of December 27 2022, Irvine seized control of a Citroen C3 after breaking into a nearby house to steal Christmas gifts and up to £2,000 cash.
It was the prosecution case that the owner of the Citroen was targeted as he parked outside a convenience store on Cavendish Street.
Irvine approached the victim and told him: “Stop crying and get out of the car now or I will cut your throat. I have a Stanley knife on me.”
The defendant drove off in the vehicle, colliding with another parked car as he left.
The court heard that a short time later, the Citroen was abandoned at Moyard Park after it crashed into a wall.
Irvine is also accused of stealing aftershave, perfume, an iPad and money from a house on Crocus Street that morning. He broke into the house and rummaged through Christmas gift bags and dumped them when he arrived at the Vivo store.
The burgled resident told police that bags of gifts and cards containing between £1,500 and £2,000 in cash had been taken.
Irvine was linked to the offences by CCTV recordings near the shop and an eye witness account at the scene of the crash.
Defence barrister Paul Burns told the court: “He fully accepts responsibility. It is quite clear on that morning that he was under the influence and behaving erratically.”
He added that there was no pre-planning and his client had acted in a “haphazard way’' and he was always going to get caught due to CCTV in the area of the shop.
Mr Burns also spoke of his client’s difficulties from an early age and had suffered tragedies, including the death of his mother when he was aged 13 which resulted in mental health issues.
A pre-sentence report prepared by the Probation Service assessed Irvine as a high likelihood of reoffending but stated that he did not pose a danger to the public in the future.
Irvine told a probation officer that he wished to convey his apologies to his victims. Judge Crawford also imposed a consecutive sentence of six months in custody as Irvine was in breach of a suspended sentence at the time of the hijacking.