Jailed for ‘savage’ 4am street robbery and assault of men
TWO men who robbed, kicked and beat two men in an unprovoked attack on the Mall in 2016 have been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
John Patrick Sweeney (18) of Rathbraughan Park, and his brother-in-law Sammy Gavin (22) of Mount Olive Road, Kilbarrack, Dublin 5, both pleaded guilty at Sligo Circuit Criminal Court to the robbery and assault causing harm of Aaron Worth and his friend Damien McAndrew on 23rd September 2016.
Both defendants appeared before Judge Keenan Johnson for sentencing last Tuesday.
State prosecutor Ms Dara Foynes told the judge that the alarm was raised at 4.15am on the date in question when Gardaí got a call that two men were robbed.
The two 26-year-olds, who were 24 years old at the time of the assault, were brought to Sligo University Hospital for treatment and gave a description of their assailants.
Mr McAndrew, who had just moved to Sligo from Mayo, claimed two men ran after them, punched him in the face, knocked him to the ground and one of them kneed him in the face. He took ¤50 out of his wallet and handed it over.
Mr Worth, also from Mayo, said one of the men said he had a knife. He got a jabbed in the stomach by a set of keys. One of the attackers grabbed his iPhone 5 from his pocket, knocked him to the ground and grabbed his wallet, containing ¤200 cash.
He said his friend Damien received a number of kicks to the head while he was on the ground and “the other man joined in.”
After the robbery was reported, the Gardaí stopped two men in the area who they believed to be suspects.
No arrest was made but a warrant was obtained to search Sweeney’s house in Rathbraughan Park. Gardaí found Mr Worth’s iPhone 5 inside a car belonging to Gavin on the property.
Both accused were arrested and interviewed about the crime. Ms Foynes asked Detective Garda Connor Jordan how forthright were both men in custody.
Det. Gda. Jordan said it wasn’t until his third interview that Sweeney fully admitted to the robbery, while Gavin made full admissions to the crime in his second Garda interview.
Medical reports on the victims read out to the court showed Mr McAndrew complained of a headache, had a swollen left eye from the punch to his face, cuts and bruises and a broken nose. His nose had to be reset under local anaesthetic five days later.
Mr Worth suffered blurred vision and a scratched cornea in his right eye from the punch to his face along with an injured thumb.
The court heard Gavin had only recently married Sweeney’s sister and had two children.
Ms Foynes said the two men had “struck up a rather dangerous relationship and connection.”
“Unfortunately they abuse alcohol and other substances and this makes them not two individuals that would have been the best to meet at that hour of the evening,” she told Judge Johnson.
She said Gavin had seven previous convictions, including three recorded after this assault, for minor offences. Sweeney, who was only 17 at the time of the incident had seven previous convictions at District Court level for theft, burglary and assault. Ms Foynes said his personal family background was dysfunctional and both parents were alcoholics.
Defence barrister for Sweeney, Mr Michael Bowman SC, told the judge that “this was a heavy cocktail of company, alcohol and drugs whereby the defendant’s family had broken up and he was rendered homeless.”
“Drugs and alcohol have blighted his young life,” he said.
Defence barrister for Gavin, Mr Joe Barnes, said his client had expressed remorse for this “isolated incident of cocaine use” and was “terrified of the consequences”. He said his mother had died when he was aged four and his father when he was 13 and he now had drug and alcohol addictions but was engaging with Chrysalis drug treatment services. He read out a letter of apology from Gavin.
A Probation Report placed him at high risk of re-offending. Sweeney did not turn up for his appointments with the Probation Services so there was no report on him.
Judge Johnson said the aggravating factors were the unprovoked and violent nature of the assault, their injuries, the cash stolen and the effects which were profound for both victims.
He sentenced both Sweeney and Gavin to four years with the final 18 months suspended for five years on condition they keep the peace, stay off drink and drugs for the five years post release and engage with the Probation Services.