Man believed he was fighting off demons when he pulled syringe on gardai after injecting head shop drug, court hears

Trevor Curtis (35), of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two offences. On April 14, 2014, he was found in a laneway off Bedford Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin, in possession of a syringe which he brandished at gardai. Evidence indicated that Curtis had injected himself with a head shop drug and was experiencing hallucinations, believing he was under attack by demons. Garda Paul Gray pepper-sprayed Curtis after he refused to drop the syringe. Curtis also pleaded guilty to robbing a betting shop on Wicklow Street, Dublin, on October 27, 2014, during which he pointed a syringe at a pregnant employee and took €355 in cash. Judge Martin Nolan released Curtis into the custody of the Probation Services, conditional on his residence at a drug treatment centre and compliance with all directions. Curtis has 43 previous convictions, including three similar offences and previous sentences for robbery, including a suspended sentence at Longford Circuit Court.