Father and son tackle five burglars in farmyard raid

Repeat offender jailed after being ‘caught red-handed’ as farmers hurt in struggle

A JUDGE praised a father and son who bravely tackled five men “caught red-handed” trying to burgle their farmyard.

One of the gang, Edward Carthy, of 27 Rioch Street, Kilkenny, who pleaded guilty, was jailed for 18 months for his part in the burglary at Ossory Hill, Johnswell and the assault of one of the farmers.

On November 19 last year, John Armitage Jnr took a break from working in the farmyard to have a cup of tea with his father, John Snr, at his nearby home. He locked up the farmyard before he left.

When the pair returned 15 to 20 minutes later, around 7pm, they saw a silver VW Passat parked at the farm gate with its lights off.

Then they saw five men jump over the gate, run to the Passat and attempt to escape in a “haphazard” way by “bundling themselves” into the car. The Armitages ran after the five men and tried to hold some of them, but couldn’t.

The car took off but drove off the road and crashed. The group of men abandoned the car and the Armitages gave chase.

There was a scuffle. Mr Armitage Jnr got hold of one of the men, Carthy — who he said had been driving the car.

As Carthy was trying to get out of the car, through the window, he punched Mr Armitage Jnr in the chest “five or ten times”. Mr Armitage Jnr held Carthy until the gardaí arrived.

A number of items were found at the yard gate, from inside the farmyard. The tap on a diesel tank was turned on in the farmyard and containers left around.

Mr Armitage Jnr spent almost 24 hours in hospital with bad bruising, and was unable to work for five or six weeks. His father also went to hospital, as he hit his head and hurt his hand.

Previous convictions

Judge Cormac Quinn heard that Carthy had 12 previous convictions, including two for entering a premises with intent to commit an offence and one charge of burglary.

In his victim impact statements, Mr Armitage Snr said he had installed CCTV security, and his wife is nervous to be on her own.

Mr Armitage Jnr said a threat to “get” him had been repeated a number of times. He, too, has installed a home alarm. Both men had financial costs for security and medical care.

Gerard Downey BL, for Carthy, said his client lives with his wife and four children and claimed Mr Armitage Jnr had been kicked in the ribs by another man in the car.

Carthy expressed remorse, and his family offered €500 in compensation to Mr Armitage Jnr.

Judge Quinn said the value of the plea was lessened by being “caught red-handed”, and sentenced Carthy to three years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended for three years, with 18 months to be served concurrently, on the assault charge — all backdated to the day Carthy was imprisoned in November.