80-year-old man dragged burglar out of house

An 80-year-old man confronted a burglar he found coming in through the back window at his home and dragged him through the house before throwing him out the front door.

The man had just returned home after attending evening Mass with his wife and was turning the key in his front door when he heard the sound of breaking glass coming from the rear of his home in Bohermore.

Galway Tom Doyle told Galway Circuit Criminal Court that Cian Cantwell (23), of no fixed abode, had smashed the glass at the rear of the house on September 15 last year and was halfway in through the window when he was caught by the elderly man.

He said the couple were greatly distressed after the incident and had since taken steps to secure their home.

“Despite his age, he was robust enough to deal with the accused,” prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy, said of the elderly man.

Garda Doyle agreed but said that while the man had had “an adrenaline rush” at the time he pulled Cantwell in through the window, he was very distressed and traumatised at what he had done – as was his wife – for a long time after the incident.

Mr Fahy reminded Judge Rory McCabe that apart from these offences, Cantwell was also facing sentence for breaking into and ransacking his aunt’s home and stealing her jewellery, computers and televisions while she was attending her sister’s funeral in October, 2013.

Evidence in that case was heard last May and Judge McCabe had indicated at the time that Cantwell would be facing a six-year sentence with two years suspended for the offence.  However, it was decided to adjourn sentence for twelve months after Cantwell expressed an interest in going into a rehabilitation centre.

Garda Doyle told the Circuit Court hearing last week that Cantwell had come from a good home but was estranged from his family due to his chronic drug addiction.

He said he viewed CCTV footage from nearby premises and positively identified Cantwell who was arrested in a city hostel the day after the break-in in Bohermore.

He said the accused was genuinely remorseful when he realised elderly people were affected by his actions.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage and to trespassing at the couple’s home.

Cantwell, who had 17 previous convictions for drug dealing and for a series of thefts, had been in custody since his arrest last September in the hostel.

He went into the witness box and read out a letter of apology which he had written to the elderly couple, to his aunt, her husband and to his own family.

“I want to say I’m sorry.  The last seven months in prison have been a wake-up call for me,” he said.

Judge McCabe said the elderly couple in Bohermore had been clearly terrorised that evening by the accused.

He said the headline sentence for the criminal damage charge was six years, while the trespass charge would be taken into account.

Given the mitigating circumstances whereby it was accepted that Cantwell’s remorse was genuine, he had pleaded guilty to the charges and had co-operated with the Garda investigation, the appropriate sentence, he said, was four years.

Following the recommendations of the probation report before the court, Judge McCabe then suspended the final two years of the four-year sentence for five years on condition that on his release Cantwell remain under the supervision of the probation service for two years.

The judge imposed a concurrent four-year sentence with the final two years on Cantwell suspended for the burglary at his aunt’s home.