Today in court

By Brion Hoban and Declan Brennan

A man who broke into a primary school and stole hundreds of euro from Trócaire boxes has received a suspended prison sentence.

Martin Lumsden (35) and another man were spotted by gardaí on traffic duty outside Gaelscoil Cholmcille in Coolock in the early hours of the morning as they climbed over the railings of the school.

Garda Finbarr Fleming told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that he also saw the two men throw a heavy bag over the railings. He approached the men and arrested them after finding a large amount of coins in the bag.

He then went to the school and found that a side window had been smashed and the principal's office had been rummaged through.

Lumsden of The Square, Larchhill, Santry, and John Finn (32), of Cromcastle Close, Kilmore, subsequently pleaded guilty to burglary of the school on Oscar Traynor Road on April 18, 2018.

Lumsden also pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of a firearm at Mace, All Saints Park, Raheny, on May 7, 2018.

The court heard he was on bail for the burglary when he went into the Mace shop armed with a gun.

Lumsden stole around €500 from two tills in the shop and none of this money has been recovered. The firearm has also not been recovered.

Judge Melanie Greally remarked that Lumsden's life had been “a never ending cycle of offending and addiction and homelessness”. She said his “life story so far has been very bleak” but that people in his position have gone on to do great things.

She said he had made every effort to address his drug addiction and was now stable. She imposed a two-year sentence for the burglary and a consecutive prison term of five and a half years for the armed robbery.

Judge Greally suspended all sentences for seven years on condition that he keep the peace, remain drug free and continue to engage with the Peter McVerry Trust. Finn was sentenced at a previous hearing.

The judge said the burglary was aggravated by it taking place at a school, by charity money being stolen and by the damage done in commission of the offence.

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By Brion Hoban and Declan Brennan

Two home owners were left terrified after they stopped armed burglars forcing their way into their home, a court has heard.

Michael Cawley was 16-years-old when he and two other men tried to push their way into the house on Brewery Road, Stillorgan, in February 2014. Cawley was using a screwdriver to try to jimmy the door open but the couple inside the house held their bodies against the door until the raiders gave up and left.

After failing to get into the house, Cawley (22) broke into a home on Wilson Road in nearby Mount Merrion. He stole €5,000 worth of property including jewellery, a Playstation console and 600 cigarettes.

He also stole the family BMW which was parked in front of the house. The car was later found close to his home in a halting site at Daltree Place, Ballycullen.

When gardaí went to search this address they also found the games console. Cawley absconded to the UK where he picked up charges for a burglary in 2016.

On his return to Ireland, he was arrested and later pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to attempted burglary at Woodford, Brewery Road, Stillorgan, on February 28, 2014. He also pleaded guilty to burglary on the same date.

He has previous convictions for burglary and dangerous driving.

At a sentence hearing on Monday, Judge Pauline Codd said that the earlier attack was a terrifying ordeal for the homeowners, whose son was forced to lock himself in his bedroom. She said the family now feel unsafe in their own home during the day and night and have turned their house into a type of fortress.

She said the destruction of the front door cost them €3,000 to repair.

Judge Codd set a headline sentence of six years' imprisonment but reduced this to three and a half years after taking into consideration Cawley's youth at the time, his drug addiction issues and his difficult childhood.

The court heard that after Cawley's mother died when he was aged 12, he left school, started hanging around with local lads and taking drugs. His father had a stroke not long after and Cawley had to care for him.

Judge Codd noted that he was under older “pro-criminal” influences at the time and that nobody came for him while he was being held in custody.

She suspended the final six months on condition that Cawley continue to deal with his drug addiction issues.

Cawley told Judge Codd that he was terribly sorry for what he had put the couple in the first house through.