‘Minimum terms for attacks on elderly’
... But response to ‘three years in jail’ plan is mixed
PLANS to impose a minimum three-year sentence to anyone who attacks an elderly person have been welcomed by advocacy group Age Action.
The Assaults on Older Persons Bill would set mandatory sentences for anyone who threatens to kill or injure a person over the age of 65 or who pierces their skin during an attack.
It is aimed at tackling the problem of violent attacks on old people during robberies.
It was introduced yesterday by Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on Older People, Mary Butler.
In a statement released yesterday, Age Action welcomed the legislation, saying it hoped the Bill would encourage older people to report crimes. ‘Older people are less likely to be the victims of crime than the rest of us and even though incidents like this are rare, their recovery can take longer, both physically and mentally,’ said Age Action.
‘Long after the crime, and when the perpetrators have perhaps been caught and jailed, and even after they’ve served their sentence, these older people may still be living in fear.’
Speaking on the legislation, Ms Butler said: ‘We have seen horrific instances of older people being attacked in their own home by marauding burglars.
‘Older men and women being attacked and held hostage while their homes are ransacked is now a common occurrence in our country.
‘These are terrible crimes that scar people and their families.
‘The impact of these attacks is devastating both physically and psychologically. It creates a fear in communities that is very hard to shake and get over.
‘We need to send a crystal-clear message to thugs and criminals who terrify older people that this type of heinous behaviour will not be tolerated.’
Ms Butler also said that this legislation would ‘ensure a transparent and consistent approach to sentencing,’ adding that it would help reassure older people that they are safe in their homes and communities.
However, a spokesperson for Active Retirement Ireland disagreed
‘Our focus should be on prevention’
– saying that while the minimum sentence may act as a deterrent, it would only come in after the fact, and that there needed to be an increase in overall crime prevention.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Peter Kavanagh of Active Retirement Ireland said: ‘At the end of the day, maybe this will be a deterrent if it goes through, but somebody is going to have to get severely hurt for someone to be punished like this and that is not a situation we want to see arise.
‘So our focus is squarely on crime prevention and that is a model of policing that should be encouraged. Older people want to feel safe in their homes, so we would call for a stronger focus on crime prevention than punishment after the fact.’
According to the most recent CSO statistics available, in the year to the end of the first quarter of 2018, there have been 18,576 burglaries and related offences – up 1.2% from last year. There was also an increase in the number of murder threats or attempts, assaults, harassments and related offences, up by 13.5% to 19,137 offences.
In recent months, the Director of Public Prosecutions has been pursuing tougher prison terms for serial burglars who scare or attack vulnerable householders.
The DPP has been challenging what it terms ‘unduly lenient’ sentences in at least four cases – one of which involved a break-in that caused a pensioner to ‘die of shock’ when he found two men ransacking his home.
In August 2015, a 62-year-old carpenter named John O’Donoghue collapsed and died after witnessing two men robbing his home in Limerick.
The raiders – cousins Michael and David Casey – were on bail at the time for their part in two other raids. They had 58 previous convictions between them.
The two men received three-and-a half-year prison sentences in December 2016.
In April, following an appeal, their sentences were increased to seven years each, with the final eight months suspended.