A YOUNG man who stabbed a pensioner in the head while attempting to rob him was on bail for endangering the lives of two Gardaí by ramming a patrol car.
Sean Byrnes (26), with an address at Limerick City Hotel, Dock Road, Limerick, is to serve seven and a half years in jail.
Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard he attacked the 70-year-old victim after the man caught him trying to steal a window from a caravan on his land.
When the pensioner confronted Mr Byrnes and took his photo on his mobile phone, Byrnes knocked him to the ground, punched, kicked, and stabbed him in the head with a screwdriver, demanding the man give him the phone.
Byrnes pleaded guilty to assaulting the man causing him harm, producing a screwdriver during the course of the assault, and attempted robbery.
The “vicious” and “savage” attack occurred at Broadford, County Limerick, in May 2024.
The victim wrote in a victim impact statement how he thought he was going to die at the hands of Byrnes.
“I was stabbed a number of times in the head, kicked in the ribs for what felt like an eternity,” the man wrote. “It was a savage attack.”
“I worked hard all my life, I get flashbacks of it, and it is a fright to God to feel so vulnerable.
“He kept hitting and kicking me, I thought he was going to kill me.”
The man’s daughter described it as a “heartbreaking incident” for her father and her family, who, the court heard, remain shaken by the attack.
The man sustained lacerations and multiple bruises to his head and eyes and required seven stitches to his scalp.
“Every morning I have to remind myself that my attacker won’t be able hurt me now, but it has greatly affected my life, having someone come at you and attack you so viciously.”
The victim did not let go of his mobile phone despite Byrnes raining kicks into him and shouting at him “no f***ing photos”.
In the end, the photo of Byrnes captured on the man’s phone helped corroborate the man’s allegation against him.
When he attacked the elderly man, Byrnes was on bail for two separate endangerment offences, one in September, 19, 2019, and the other on June 23, 2021, when he rammed a Garda car endangering the lives of two Gardaí.
The latter occurred when Byrnes went to collect a social welfare payment. He saw Gardaí Michael McNamara and Ollie O’Sullivan in the carpark of the post office. They intended to arrest Byrnes on three outstanding warrants.
When Garda McNamara approached Byrnes’ vehicle, he identified himself and opened Byrnes’ front passenger door, at which point Byrnes reversed the BMW at speed with Garda McNamara still “hanging onto the front passenger door”, prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley told the court.
Byrnes, who was disqualified from driving at the time, drove the BMW forward colliding with the unmarked patrol car before “speeding away” from the scene.
Byrnes, who has 27 previous convictions, was eventually arrested on November 11, 2024, and detained in custody thereafter having refused bail at the Limerick District Court and the High Court.
He pleaded guilty to endangerment and causing criminal damage to the Garda car.
Byrnes’ barrister, Liam Carroll, said the attack on the elderly man was “something Mr Byrnes will regret forever”; he said Byrnes was from a respectable family but had “lost his way”.
Byrnes apologised and said he was “ashamed” of his “horrible” actions, adding, “I deserve to be punished”.
The judge jailed Byrnes for four years in respect of the attack and attempted robbery, plus an additional two years along with a 10-year road ban for the endangerment of the two Gardaí.
The judge directed the sentences run consecutively to an 18-month prison sentence Byrnes is currently serving in respect of the 2019 endangerment.
