Man posed as garda before robbing pensioner

A 53-YEAR-OLD man, who brutally attacked and robbed an elderly man in a rural location between Carrickmacross and Culloville, has been given prison sentences amounting to four years.

Patrick Harty from Rossmanagher Road, Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, pleaded guilty before Monaghan Circuit Court to robbing Eugene McBride of €500 at the older man’s home at Carrickavoley, Carrickmacross, on October 21, 2023, although he claims to have no memory of the incident.

During the attack, Mr McBride, then aged 80 years, sustained a serious injury to his left arm arising from a tussle that ensued when Harty grabbed the money from his wallet. Harty had initially pretended to be a plain clothes garda and had asked to see Mr McBride’s driving licence.

The defendant, who was described by Judge John Aylmer during the hearing as “a very seasoned criminal”, also admitted making off without paying for €114.92 of diesel at Callan’s Pure petrol station, Drumconrath Road, Carrickmacross on the same date.

For the fuel theft he was sentenced to 14 months in prison, to run concurrently with the robbery sentence; while a charge that he impersonated a garda was taken into consideration.

Judge Aylmer directed that the sentences were to run consecutive to an existing sentence imposed by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in February 2025 for multiple robbery offences, for which Harty is currently serving a sentence with a release date of 2030.

Evidence relating to the incidents in Monaghan had been given by Detective Garda Ciaran Marks on the first day of hearing, while Judge Aylmer delivered his verdict the following day.

The aggravated robbery victim, Mr McBride, was present on both days in the company of Victim Support officer Patrick Caldwell. The defendant appeared in person on the first day but by video link from Midlands Prison for sentencing the following day.

The court heard that Harty had 170 previous convictions, 91 of which were for thefts, and several instances of trespass, burglary and assault.

In passing sentence Judge Aylmer said that the victim, by virtue of his aged, was a vulnerable individual and must have been traumatised by the incident.

This was considered an aggravating factor, as was Harty’s long history of offending. The accused’s early guilty plea and expressions of remorse were mitigating factors.

Imposing prison terms coming to four years, the new sentence will see Harty now looking at a 2034 or 2033 date for release.

Frank Martin BL appeared for the prosecution.

Det Gda Marks, in response to Mr Martin, confirmed that the injured party, Mr McBride, was driving out the front gate of his house when another vehicle pulled up beside him.

This was being driven by the defendant, who introduced himself as a plain clothes garda who worked between Dundalk and Castleblayney.

GRABBED WALLET

Harty had requested the older man’s driving licence, which was shown to him. But when Mr McBride attempted to put it back in his wallet, the defendant grabbed the wallet from his hands. It contained €500 in cash at the time.

Det Gda Marks said a struggle ensued between the two men, resulting in injuries to Mr McBride’s arms and legs. The garda agreed with Mr Martin that what happened amounted to an assault.

Photos taken of the injuries were handed into court, one of which showed a “particularly nasty” wound to the injured party’s inner forearm.

The court heard that Mr McBride gave an excellent description of the individual who attacked him, while CCTV from a nearby home identified the registration of the vehicle.

The Garda witness then alluded to a subsequent report from the manager of Callan’s Pure filling station in Carrickmacross about a drive off involving €114.92 of diesel relating to the same vehicle.

A Garda in Co Clare identified the defendant from CCTV at the filling station.

The Kuga was later found abandoned in Dublin on December 18, 2023, and DNA and fingerprints matched to the accused.

Harty was arrested and later charged. Although he made no admissions in early interviews, he later pleaded guilty to the charges.

A victim impact statement, written by Mr McBride, was read out by Det Gda Marks. In it, Mr McBride, now aged 83 years, described himself as a married man with two adult children. He mentions a number of health challenges going back 20 years.

The injuries sustained in the incident required doctors’ attention for four months until February 2024, he said.

Mr McBride said he is struggling to get over the incident and has lost his confidence.

“It left me wary to go for a walk down the road, and I lost trust in human beings, which is very sad,” he wrote.

He revealed how he often lies terrified in his own bed.

Hoping that the effects would fade with time, Mr McBride thanked his family, neighbours, friends, doctors and gardaí for their support.

Ronan O’Carroll BL appeared for the defendant. He said Harty had been assessed by clinical psychologist, Dr Andrew Perry.

Mr O’Carroll also drew the court’s attention to a letter of apology written by the defendant to the court and Mr McBride. This had been handed to the State Solicitor earlier in the day.

While conceding that the injury to the victim’s arm was “very nasty”, counsel said it was not intentional.

The barrister also drew the judge’s attention to his client’s remorse and guilty plea.

Counsel said his client was also insisting that he no recollection of this incident, and while this might be construed as a mechanism for “hiding behind” his actions, Dr Perry’s psychological report set out a background that might ultimately explain the accused’s problems with memory.

TRAUMATIC UPBRINGING

Harty’s own account was that he experienced trauma from an early age. Both his parents were alcoholics, resulting in a “chaotic” upbringing for the second eldest of a family of 14.

The court also heard that defendant’s father later died by suicide and his brother died following a fight in Limerick.

Again referring to the psychological report, Mr O’Carroll said it had identified his client as being “warm and likeable” while being assessed.

The lawyer accepted that this seemed to be the case when he was in custody and in a “stable routine”.

But it also appeared that, when out in society, Harty has difficulties dealing with certain stresses, the lawyer admitted.

The defendant was further described as an alcoholic and drug user but was not addicted to any drugs.

He is in contact with two of his five children, one of whom lives in the UK.

“He accepts that he resorts to alcohol, and then he engages in foolish, stupid and childish activities,” was how Mr O’Carroll summed it up.

The barrister further highlighted how Harty had no disciplinary issues in the Midlands Prison and attends AA meetings every week.

Counsel submitted that psychiatric help, and not additional time in custody, is what’s needed to address the tendency to repeatedly offend.

The court was told that, together with the letter of apology, the defendant had gathered up about €650 to offer Mr McBride in compensation.

Mr Martin, prosecuting, confirmed that Mr McBride wasn’t interested in compensation and would prefer a donation be directed to a local cancer support group in Carrickmacross.

FIVE YEAR SENTENCE

In passing sentence the following day, Judge Aylmer said the court had to take into account the effect of the offence on Mr McBride, who said he is still not over the experience “and I suspect he may never get over it.”

The accused used a significant degree of force in grappling with Mr McBride, causing him to fall to the ground and inflicting a nasty injury to his forearm.

Judge Aylmer said it was clear Mr McBride had been robbed of his sense of safety. “That is a very significant aggravating feature of the case,” he emphasised.

The judge noted that the accused had 170 previous convictions, many of which were for serious offences carrying some lengthy sentences. The court had to consider this as another significant aggravating factor.

These factors all placed the offence well into the mid-range of such offences of robbery and merited a headline sentence of six-and-a-half years before mitigation.

In relation to his guilty plea, the judge noted that this had spared Mr McBride any further trauma or insult by not having to give evidence in a trial.

Other mitigating factors flagged by Judge Aylmer include the accused’s expression of remorse, his letter of apology and elements of Dr Perry’s report apart from the claims of a brain injury.

The judge accepted that Harty probably didn’t intend to cause the serious injury to Mr McBride’s arm. But, in attacking an 80-year-old man with such a level of force, he showed extreme recklessness.

To give him credit for the mitigating circumstances, the robbery sentence was reduced to five years, and the making off without payment from 18 months to 14 months. These sentences would run concurrently with each other, but consecutive to the Dublin sentence

The final 12 months of that sentence was suspended on terms including Probation and Welfare Service supervision and complete abstinence from alcohol and unprescribed drugs.

“Drugs are clearly a problem in addition to alcohol,” Judge Aylmer remarked in conclusion.

* This article was published with support from the Court Reporting Scheme.