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City man jailed for robbery using force against teenage boy
Galway Bay fm newsroom – A father of six, who robbed his neighbour’s house, putting their terrified 14-year-old son on his knees and threatening to kill him, has been sentenced to four years in prison with the final year suspended.
40-year-old Martin Sweeney, with addresses at 175 Castlepark, Ballybane, and more recently at Clareview Park, Ballybane, appeared before Galway Circuit Criminal Court.
He pleaded guilty to the robbery of a cash box containing €30 from a neighbour’s house on November 20th, 2009, and to using force to commit the theft.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, the young victim said he had just come in from school and was alone in the house watching television and eating sweets when he heard a noise in the kitchen.
He was then confronted by two masked men.
The accused, who was very aggressive, grabbed him and pushed him to his knees.
He held what the boy thought was a gun to the back of his head and threatened to kill him.
In actual fact, Sweeney had poked his finger into the back of the boy’s head, making him believe it was a gun.
The boy said he was trembling with fear and thought he was going to die.
The men left with a box containing €30 and the boy contacted his parents.
Sweeney’s car was used to commit the crime and he was arrested.
After the incident, the now 19-year old victim, suffered a breakdown and could not go to school for a month.
His grades went down hill and he could no longer socialise as he used to.
The court heard that the accused had two previous convictions, one for theft and another for robbery in 1998.
Defence barrister, Conal McCarthy said his client had not reoffended since this incident and his wife now kept a studious eye on him.
Sweeney apologised to the teenager in court and had brought €500 as a token of his remorse.
Imposing sentence, Judge Thomas O’Donnell said this had been a violent, premeditated robbery which had made a severe psychological impact on the young boy.
He put a stay on the execution of the custody warrant to June 9th to give Sweeney time to put arrangements in place for his absence from the family home, due to the nature of his youngest child’s medical condition.
The delay was granted on Sweeney’s undertaking to present himself at Galway Garda station at 12 noon on June 9th, from where he will be brought to Castlerea Prison to begin his sentence of four years with the final year suspended.
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Category: Galway Bay FM News Desk
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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