Burglar fell asleep on the job

A man is living in fear and has installed security cameras around his home since he was was hit in the face with a broken bottle by a would-be car thief who broke into his car while it was parked in his driveway.

39-year-old Mark McDonagh, from 11 Ballinfoile Park, Headford Road, received sentences totalling 17 months at Galway District Court for a spate of alcohol-fuelled, sometimes violent offences which he committed over the last couple of years around the city.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting the man, causing him harm at a property at Glenanail on September 1, 2020.

He also pleaded guilty to damaging the driver’s window of the man’s Hyundai i10, and to interfering with the mechanism of the car during the same incident.

The court heard McDonagh also broke into the County Club at Gaol Road on April 27 last year where he stole a safe containing €220 and a bottle of vodka from the bar.

He was arrested shortly afterwards by Gardai who found him lying in a highly intoxicated state in the club’s garden alongside the empty bottle and the safe.

He was taken to Garda HQ in Murrough where a routine search revealed he was carrying a screwdriver.

McDonagh pleaded guilty to all of the charges and also to stealing a bottle of wine and a pack of face masks from Dunnes Stores on May 28 and to stealing a bottle of vodka from Tesco on July 17 last year.

Sergeant Aoife Curley, prosecuting, said the victim of the assault interrupted McDonagh whom he found sitting in his car at 10.30pm on September 1, 2020. The driver’s window had been smashed to gain entry.

The injured party shouted at McDonagh to get out of his car before he was hit in the face.  He sustained a cut, possibly from a broken bottle found at the scene which McDonagh had used to smash the car window.

McDonagh was identified by a spot of blood found on the broken bottle which matched his DNA, Sgt Curley said.

An impact statement, prepared by the victim, was handed into Judge Mary Fahy.

She noted the man needed to get stitches in the Emergency Department for the cut to his face and he had been very badly affected by the assault.

“This person is living in fear since and has had to purchase CCTV cameras for his house and for his safety,” the judge observed.

Reading his statement, she also noted it had taken him four years to pay off a car loan.

Sgt Curley said McDonagh has caused €1,400 worth of damage to the vehicle.

McDonagh’s solicitor said all of his offences were due to his chronic alcohol addiction. During Garda interviews, she pointed out, he told Gardai he could not remember anything but he wished to apologise to the injured party whom he hit in the face.

“If he is so remorseful, he will have €1,400 for the injured party’s car so,” Judge Fahy said.

The solicitor said her client would pay compensation if given time.

Judge Fahy said the damage to the car was caused 18 months ago and McDonagh had brought nothing to court.

In relation to the burglary at the County Club, adjacent to the Cathedral, Sgt Curley said the manager there noted the fence beside the electronic gates had been breached and he then noticed a window into the club had been smashed.  He discovered the safe containing petty cash was missing along with a bottle of vodka from the bar.

McDonagh, she said, was found in the garden with the safe and the empty vodka bottle nearby.

He later admitted to being on the property but denied breaking into it.

“What makes this more serious is that this occurred in April 2021, while he was already charged with other serious offences,” Judge Fahy observed.

She said it had been a very unfortunate situation for the victim of the assault whose car had been interfered with outside his home.

The judge said it was obvious McDonagh tried to steal the car and the owner got badly cut in the face – probably with the broken glass bottle – and needed to get stitches.

Judge Fahy said the victim of the assault had been trying to protect his property which he was entitled to do.

McDonagh’s solicitor said her client would pay compensation if given time.

Judge Fahy said she didn’t think the victim wanted anything to do with McDonagh ever again.

“He wants to be left alone to enjoy the peace of his own property,” she said, before sentencing McDonagh to nine months in prison for the assault.

Noting the damage to the car was extensive and no compensation had been paid, the judge imposed a consecutive two-month sentence for the criminal damage charge.

A consecutive, six-month sentence was imposed for the County Club burglary, bringing the total sentence to be served to 17 months.

Judge Fahy refused an application by McDonagh’s solicitor to suspend some of the sentences.

She said it was a very bad case.

“While the victim may have physical scars that heal, he definitely will have mental scarring for a very long time due to the manner in which this happened,” the judge replied.

She granted leave to appeal the sentences on McDonagh’s own surety of €500 and one independent surety of €800 with half of each to be lodged in court pending an appeal.

(Photo: The County Club on Gaol Road).