Man jailed over false imprisonment of Limerick Good Samaritan

A GOOD Samaritan neighbour who confronted three burglars was locked in a cupboard while they raided a house, a Limerick court has heard.

The evidence was heard at Limerick Circuit Court during the sentencing hearing of Martin Ward who had pleaded guilty to false imprisonment at Singland Road on February 23, 2014

The 26-year-old, who is currently serving prison sentence, was one of three men who were raiding a house when a neighbour noticed them. 

The 63-year-old victim, who arrived at the property with his dog, saw two men leaving a bedroom with a number of items.

Detective Garda Healy said that as the 63-year-old confronted them, one of the men threw something at his dog causing him injury.

The victim was then pushed and punched during an assault before he was locked in to a compartment area under the stairs of his neighbour’s house. 

Limerick Circuit Court heard that the victim’s wife rang their son as she grew very concerned for the 63-year-old’s welfare.

The three men left the house and went to a nearby petrol station before the man was freed from the house by his son.

When he was arrested, Ward, a native of Galway with seven sisters and five brothers, gave gardai a false name which made their investigations difficult as there was no DNA or forensics linking him to the incident. 

In a victim impact statement, Judge O’Donnell noted that the 63-year-old, although having recovered from his physical injuries, suffered extreme psychological distress.

“It was an appalling incident which damaged his self-confidence”, Judge O’Donnell said. 

In his judgement, Judge O’Donnell noted that the accused lived a “transient lifestyle and was subjected to child abuse at an early age.”

With 69 previous convictions, the majority of which are for robbery, burglary and road traffic offences, Judge O’Donnell said that this particularly “bad record” had to be considered as an aggravating factor

“This was clearly a very frightening experience which was psychologically disturbing. A man was locked under the stairs and violence used against him”.

“This is a serious case and must have serious consequences”, Judge O’Donnell said as he jailed the 26-year-old for three years and 6 months which he backdated to April 15 last when he first went in to custody.