Former footballer jailed for false imprisonment and stab assault

By Isabel Hayes

A former footballer who took part in the false imprisonment of a man who was forced into a car, hooded and then beaten and stabbed in a caravan, has been jailed for six and a half years.

Jamie Geoghegan assaulted the victim and dragged him, wearing only his shorts, out of a home where he had been staying before forcing him into a waiting Jeep containing a number of other men, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Friday.

The man was then driven to a caravan in Clondalkin where he was tied up, beaten and stabbed with implements including a knife and a claw hammer, Garda John Griffin told Eoin Lawlor BL, prosecuting.

The victim’s ordeal ended when gardaí on patrol noticed a man known to them acting as a look-out and they came upon Geoghegan and another man standing guard outside the caravan. Both men fled the scene.

The victim was found lying on the ground groaning in pain, with his hands tied with a bloody phone cable. He had lacerations to his shoulder and legs, and his leg and hand had been fractured. A machete was also found on the scene alongside the claw hammer and knife, which had the victim’s blood on them.

Geoghegan (28) of Shancastle Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm to the victim at an address in Ongar and one count of false imprisonment at Fonthill Cottages, Clondalkin on July 21 last year. The maximum sentence for false imprisonment is life in prison, the court heard.

The assault causing harm charge related to Geoghegan punching the victim before pushing him into the car, the court heard. His DNA was not on any of the weapons found in the caravan, defence counsel said.

Geoghegan has 75 previous convictions, including theft, burglary, firearm and drug offences.

The victim in the case did not give a victim impact statement, with the court hearing he wished to remain “uncontactable”.

The court heard that after Geoghegan dragged him out of the home where he had been staying, Geoghegan punched him to the head before pushing him into a waiting Jeep. The victim was placed between two men who were punching him and a hood was put over his head.

The victim thought he was going to die and as a result, he swallowed a deal of cocaine he had on his person in an attempt to “numb himself” from what was going to happen, Mr Lawlor said. His next memory was of waking up in hospital.

Gda Griffin said that he was on patrol in Clondalkin with a colleague when they noticed a man known to them acting suspiciously. They found Geoghegan and another man, who was hooded, standing outside the caravan before they fled the scene.

Gda Griffin estimated the false imprisonment lasted for between 30 to 45 minutes.

When Geoghegan and the other man were traced by gardaí to an address in Clondalkin, they were prevented from gaining access to the home by a crowd gathered outside, the court heard. By the time they got into the house, the two men had escaped.

Geoghegan was eventually arrested two months later in September and he has been in custody since then.

Michael Bowman SC, defending, said Geoghegan was a promising footballer in his youth and represented Ireland both under-age and at the Homeless World Cup. He outlined a number of family difficulties Geoghegan had in his youth.

He is married with four children and several family members were in court to support him, defence counsel said.

Sentencing Geoghegan, Judge Martin Nolan said it was clear Geoghegan and others were involved in some sort of dispute with the victim. “Thankfully for everybody, gardaí intruded before matters got worse,” he said, adding it was a “very serious incident”.

The judge set a headline sentence of 10 years, which he reduced to six and a half years, taking mitigation into account. He backdated it to last September, when Geoghegan went into custody.