Man gets three years in jail for false imprisonment of child in Dublin street

A 28-year-old man who took a six-year-old child from outside a Dublin city centre shop has been sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to false imprisonment.

The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that David Ryan was severely intoxicated, homeless and on bail when he wheeled the child, who has special needs, away from the shop on Liffey Street in June 2015 after his father had left him outside in his buggy.

The child had been to Burger King with his father following a hospital visit.

He had left him facing in towards the door of another shop while he ate his food and his father went into the shop momentarily. When he came out he could not see his son and rang gardaí.

Prosecuting lawyers told the court that Ryan was seen by a woman who noticed he was "out of it" and saw him leave the child outside Arnotts department store.

The woman alerted security staff and gardai were called.

The boy and his father were reunited before gardaí arrived, the court heard. He was away from his father for 10 to 15 minutes in total.

Ryan was arrested after a garda saw him walking back down the street and noticed he fitted the description from CCTV.

He has 112 previous convictions for mainly minor offences.

Defence counsel Sean Gillane told the court the offence was "every parents' worst nightmare" and the 10 to 15 minutes must have felt like an eternity to the boy's father.