Purcell robber Tim Dailey makes plea for leniency
Dailey, a former student of the Cedar International School, pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a firearm and is expected to be sentenced on July 3, 2014.
He told the court that he had been having difficulties with his parents and was asked to leave the home. The court heard that Dailey did not complete school, but dropped out after transferring in his final year to the Elmore Stoutt High School.
He further told the court that on the day in question, he wanted to purchase milk and cereal for his young daughter and was frustrated that a friend would not lend him the money to do so. He told the court he never held a job before.
“I have no excuse to justify what I did. I was put in a position where I felt that I couldn’t depend on anyone,” Dailey explained while expressing remorse.
In firing a shot during the robbery, Dailey said he only intended to strike fear into the employees and never meant to injure anyone. He admitted that he made a wrong decision and said he wasn’t actually solving the problem he had but was actually contributing instead.
He told the court that he realised that he had taken away the robbery victims’ sense of security and apologised to them as well as the store owners, his relatives who were in court at the time and the wider community and said he hoped this would be a step in the right direction.
Dailey said he wanted to be able to set an example for his daughter and other children that were coming up and witnessing his behaviour, “I want them to realise that no matter what problems you are going through, my actions are not solving the problem,” he stated.
Dailey said he did not believe that he would be a threat to the community once he was eventually released. “This is what fascinates me”, Justice Ellis stated after hearing Dailey speak, “he is actually quite intelligent.”
Dailey’s youth and early guilty plea were counted as mitigating factors in addition to the fact that he acted alone in committing the crime. It was also mentioned that Dailey wanted to plead guilty to the crime since the last criminal assizes.
Facts of the crime
According to the facts, Dailey entered the Superette on September 20, 2013 in the presence of three employees while dressed in dark clothing and a red handkerchief covering his mouth.
He was engaged by one of the employees with a machete after brandishing a gun and demanding that another employee open the cash register and fired a shot in her direction which struck the cooler instead.
The women ran to the back of the store and he opened the machine and took the quantity of cash which amounted to $600. Dailey was arrested for the offence three days later and gave an elimination fingerprint to officers which led to him being charged for the offence.
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