Householders left terrified after burglary by armed men
TWO MEN ON A ‘COCKTAIL OF DRUGS’ ENTERED A HOUSE ARMED WITH A KNIFE AND BLADE AND ‘WENT MAD’ SMASHING ITEMS
FOUR young people were subjected to a 20 minute nightmare when the house they were staying in was burgled by two men armed with a kitchen knife and a Stanley blade.
Sligo Circuit Court heard the men, John McDonagh (25) with an address of 24 Brookfield, Ballinode and Kailem Sweeney (18) of 63, Garavogue Villas entered the home of Ellie Hurd at 61, Glencarrig, Ballinode at 5am on January 18th armed and wearing latex gloves.
The men both pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, making a threat to kill, criminal damage to the house and criminal damage to a car. Additionally McDonagh pleaded guilty to the burglary of 27 Brookfield on the same date, unauthorised taking of a car, and threatening to kill Kalem Lenihan.
On the night in question, Ms Hurd heard the door opening, and when she saw the two men she tried to push them back, but the men hit her with the door, causing her to fall back.
She recognised McDonagh as she briefly lived beside him and also recognised Sweeney because he was McDonagh’s brother in-law.
McDonagh had a long bladed kitchen knife and ran past her upstairs, where her friend Dillon Henry (22) was sleeping.
Sweeney, armed with a Stanley knife went into the sitting room where her friends Niall O’ Dowd (23) and Conor McManus (20) had been sleeping on couches.
She ran upstairs as Mr Henry was alone. McDonagh was coming out of the room and Sweeney was coming up the stairs at this stage. She told them to stop but said they could take whatever they wanted.
McDonagh told her to “shut up” and that if she rang the gardaí they would do to her what happened “that lad in Cork”.
At the time this did not mean anything to her, but she was petrified and thought she would be killed. Later she learned that two days previous, a student in Cork had been stabbed to death at a house party.
When McDonagh made the threat Sweeney had agreed with him.
She said the men “went mad” with knives, slashing mattresses in rooms, kicking in doors, kicking holes in walls. She told gardaí they “went crazy and trashed the place”.
Dillon Henry then told her he had woken up to a knife against his throat. Cash was taken from his wallet and then the men pointed the knives up to their faces.
Downstairs they were all ordered outside. Before going outside, McDonagh went to the sitting room, stabbed the TV, causing it to smash and took the kettle from the kitchen. He also took car keys from the sitting room belonging to Ms Hurd’s friend, James Rooney. Couches were slashed and gardaí were told it was obvious Sweeney did this.
At this stage Ms Hurd was in hysterics and could not stop crying. McDonagh pushed her, she fell on to the ground and while there McDonagh came up to her face, pointed the knife at her and told her to shut up.
McDonagh issued a threat to all four young people not to call gardaí or they would be dead, and waved the knife at them all. He then got into the car belonging to Mr Rooney did some ‘ burn offs’, driving extremely fast and drove the car sideways and parked it close to the house. He got out and then smashed every window of the car using the kettle and started slashing the tyres of the car with the help of Sweeney. Threats were again repeated to them, before the two men left on foot.
Garda Kevin Brannick told the court the woman was in “absolute fear” when making a statement to gardaí.
In relation to the second burglary later that day at 27, Brookfield, Kalem Lenihan made a statement to gardaí. The then 18 year old had moved into the address just a week previous.
Mr Lenihan was home alone at 5.55pm when McDonagh walked in through the door and came into the living room. The front door was unlocked, but closed.
In an angry tone McDonagh said, “I’m taking your stuff ”. Mr Lenihan told gardaí he knew the man as he had attended house parties that his friend would host. McDonagh plugged out the Playstation while Lenihan pleaded with him.
McDonagh said he heard Mr Lenihan was saying he had taken his keys at a previous house party. He then took a 32 inch TV and also took a Nintendo Switch. He said if Mr Lenihan called the gardaí he would kill him and threatened to hit him if he did not hand over a Playstation controller.
Mr Lenihan watched while McDonagh walked over to his house in Brookfield, two doors away with the items. The court was told the TV was worth €500, while the Playstation was valued at €250 and the Nintendo Switch cost €600. After the incident the victim made contact with his landlord and said he was moving out. He expressed fears to gardaí in that McDonagh would know it was him and he was afraid of him.
McDonagh was arrested at 9.30pm on January 18th, 2020 and has been in custody since his arrest and has since served a number of sentences on other matters.
The young people had to attend a District Court and High Court in order to provide evidence for bail hearings in relation to McDonagh, something which was very distressing for them, Garda Brannick said.
On April 22nd last Sweeney attended a garda interview by appointment. The court heard numerous appointments had been arranged, however he did not meet them and claimed he had symptoms of Covid-19. Sweeney could not account for his whereabouts in relation to the date of the burglary but told gardaí he had been at that address on previous occasions.
In his interview, McDonagh denied involvement in all matters. He placed himself at Mr Lenihan’s house at the time of the burglary but said he stayed for five minutes “visiting friends” and said he had no interest in stealing things. When asked about the aggravated burglary earlier on that date, McDonagh said he was not in that house that morning at 5am but may have ended up there on the night but left as he was not enjoying himself.
After one of the witness statements was read to him, McDonagh said “everything was lies”.
“Your man saying I had a weapon is made up”.
Gardaí told McDonagh there was no mention of a weapon in the statement that had been read to him.
Mr Leo Mulrooney, state prosecutor, instructed by Ms Elisa McHugh, state solicitor, informed the court there were two main victims, Ms Hurd and Mr Lenihan.
In a Victim Impact Statement read out on behalf of Ms Hurd she said the crimes that were committed against her and her friends meant it was “a day we will never forget”.
“What these people did to us will always play a part in our lives. We will always live in fear that they will come again.”
She said she believed her depression and anxiety increased because of what happened and said she is constantly looking behind her back.
“The fear I live each day is unexplainable. Nobody will realise what we went through. I have sleepless nights, missed work.”
She added that her life was “crippled with fear” and the crime had harmed her whole outlook on life.
In his Victim Impact Statement, Mr Lenihan said to this day he was still in fear to leave his house and cannot get what happened out of his head and only sleeps for four hours per night. He said he was at a loss of approximately €1,500.
The court was told McDonagh, who was 24 at the time, has 35 previous convictions including assault causing harm, theft offences and unauthorised taking of a vehicle. McDonagh was on bail on other matters at the time of committing the offences on January 18th, 2020.
Sweeney, who was 17 at the time of these offences has no previous convictions.
Mr Desmond Dockery, SC, instructed by Mr Keith O’Grady, BL and Mr Gerard McGovern, solicitor, told the court there was no pre planning of the offences by McDonagh and no physical injury was suffered by the victims.
He said the offences were a “major step up in criminality” and his client’s recollection of events was blurred. McDonagh’s Probation Report explained he was on a “cocktail of alcohol and cocaine” at the time. And, as the day wore on he consumed more drugs. Gardaí could not recover the property stolen as McDonagh used it to get drugs immediately after the offences occurred.
Mr Dockery said his client was embarrassed and ashamed for that he had put the victims through and he had not got a shot at life, having had an unstable upbringing.
In a letter to the court, McDonagh said he was the father of two children and is on medication for depression. He said he turned to drugs and alcohol and tried to take his own life after his wife was attacked. He said he now feels he has “turned a corner”.
Addressing the court, Sweeney said he wanted to say sorry to “the people in the house” and said he was ashamed of himself. He said drink and drugs had taken control of him but he was now engaging in Social Groundforce and attending NA meetings.
Asked by his defence counsel, Mr Colm Smyth, SC, instructed by Mr Joe Barnes, BL and Mr Gerard McGovern, solicitor, if he had any recollection of what happened in the house that morning, Sweeney said he did not, and said he was “on drugs and drink, cocaine and ecstasy”. He said from the age of 14 he began taking drugs, “valium, weed and cocaine.”
Mr Smyth told the court Mr Gerry Farry of St Anne’s Parish Council knew Sweeney since he was six years old and said he always seemed like a “well balanced lad with an interest in boxing” but added that unfortunately he came under the influence of older people. Mr Smyth submitted that his client was vulnerable at the time of the offences, a child by law, under the influence of narcotics and “running with people older than him”.
Judge Francis Comerford described the offences as “very serious crimes”, before adjourning sentencing to March 8th next. Sweeney was remanded on continuing bail, while McDonagh remains in custody.