Student’s night of terror as knife held to throat

A mugger celebrated his 18th birthday by holding a knife to a student’s throat and threatening to carve his initials on his forehead once he had killed him.

Declan Breen, of 9 Bothar Waithman, Ballybane, stole the terrified victim’s phone wallet and runners, in what was described as a humiliating and terrifying ordeal in a letter from the victim, who refused to come to court out of fear of reprisals.

Breen received sentences totalling 13 months at Galway District Court this week for what Judge Mary Fahy described as “the lowest of the low” type of robbery and one, which she said, had become a “life changer” for the victim.

Breen had just turned 18 – on July 8 last – the night he robbed the victim of his €300 mobile phone, €20 cash and a pair of €100 runners at The Line, Renmore.

Breen pleaded guilty to that offence and to also having a knife in his possession which was produced during the course of the robbery.

Garda Sheena Gill explained the 19-year-old student was too afraid of reprisals to come to court to give evidence of his ordeal.

Garda Gill gave evidence the victim had been in town the previous evening with friends.  They had gone for a meal and he was walking along “The Line” to his house in Renmore at 12.30am on Tuesday, July 8 last, when he was attacked by Breen and a 16-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age.

The victim saw both youths pull their hoodies up over their heads before they approached him.

They asked him for a cigarette and when he told them he didn’t smoke, he was punched into the face a few times with closed fists.

He ran from them but they caught up with him, punched him again and told him to empty his pockets.

One of them held him by the arms while the other searched him.

They asked him if he had any drugs, especially “weed”, and he told them he didn’t.

They became more aggressive towards him and took his phone.  They asked him for the PIN and went through his pockets again, taking out his wallet.  They took €20 from the wallet along with his student age and bank cards.

They demanded to know the PIN for the bank card and he gave them a false number.

They demanded to know where he lived and he gave them a false address.

They warned him that if he contacted the Gardai they would burn his house down with his family inside.  They also warned him that if he had given them a wrong address, they would burn that house down anyway, and he would be to blame if there were children in that house.

Breen then told the victim he would have no problem killing him.

He told him to remove his runners which he put on himself.

Both attackers then left in the direction of Eyre Square but they returned a few seconds later and Breen took a knife from the juvenile.

“He (Breen) slid the knife across the victim’s throat and carried on with his threats to get him if he went to the Gardai.

“He then slid the knife across the victim’s left cheek.  He prodded him with the point of the knife on his cheek and also slid it over his ears, threatening to cut them off.

“Breen said he would kill him and carve his initials into his forehead, while rubbing the knife on it,” Garda Gill said.

Garda Gill said she and her colleagues caught up with Breen and the juvenile a short time later in Eyre Square.

Inspector Brendan Carroll said Breen had 18 previous convictions for robbery, burglaries, thefts, possession of articles(weapons) and criminal damage.

Breen, he said, had served prison sentences as a juvenile in the past for some of those offences and he was currently serving a eight-month sentence for theft, possession of articles, criminal damage and larceny.

Garda Gill explained the victim was too afraid to come to court but his father was present.   She said the young man had written a letter,  explaining the impact the attack had had on him and it was handed into court for Judge Fahy to read.

The judge said she was shocked that the accused would treat another young person in that manner.

She said that while listening to the evidence, the word “humiliation” had come to mind and on reading the victim’s letter, he had used that exact same word to describe how he felt during his ordeal.

“He has said that when asked to take off his shoes, he felt humiliated.

“It’s the lowest of the low and I have heard lots of stories during my time as a judge.

“It’s shocking; a young boy, having to go home in his socks, bleeding,” Judge Fahy said.

Insp Carroll said the victim’s mobile phone and runners were found in Breen’s possession.

“Who would want them back? Who would want to touch anything that had been touched in this manner?” Judge Fahy asked.

Defence solicitor, John Martin said his client had turned 18 on July 8.  He reminded Judge Fahy she was familiar with Breen from the juvenile court and knew about his background.

Breen’s mother, he said, died when he was very young, his father had minimal input in his life and his uncle was his legal guardian and was doing his best.

Mr Martin pointed out that heretofore his client’s convictions had involved property and these new offences were the first to involve aggression towards a victim.

Mr Martin said his client had taken pills and abused alcohol on the night and the way in which the crime was carried out appeared to be a lot different from before.

He said Breen apologised for his behaviour when he was picked up by the Gardai that night.

Garda Gill explained the juvenile had been dealt with under the Juvenile Liaison Scheme due to his young age.

Judge Fahy said this had been a more serious type of robbery.

“In other cases, robberies or assaults are over a phone, but I have never seen such aggression or such personal threats or humiliation as displayed in this one,” she said.

Judge Fahy said the maximum sentence she could impose in her court was 24 months and she would have to give the accused credit for the plea.

Bearing in mind he was currently serving an eight-month sentence for other offences, Judge Fahy said the appropriate sentence for the robbery in this case was seven months, to run consecutively to the sentence currently being served.

She imposed a further, consecutive six-month sentence for possession of the knife.

Judge Fahy then strenuously warned Breen that if he made any threats to the victim’s family by any means, she would not be accepting jurisdiction and he would be sent forward to a higher court where he would get five years.

He grinned back at her and shook his head.  He continued to smirk and grin.

“I’m warning you,” Judge Fahy repeated.

Referring to the victim’s letter again, Judge Fahy added:  “The reality is that for this young man, the marks on his face will fade, but the trauma he has sustained will not fade for a very long time.

“It’s a life-changer for him, due to the defendant’s actions.  I just hope he makes a complete recovery.”