THREE men who were found guilty of terrorising a County Limerick family during an aggravated burglary in April 2012 are to be sentenced today at Limerick Circuit Court.
Following a seven week trial earlier this year, Patrick Roche (52), of Kilcronan Close, Clondalkin, Dublin; Philip Roche (24), of the same address and Alan Freeman (37), of Pearse Park, Tipperary Town, were convicted of a range of offences arising out of an attack on the Garvey family home at Sunville House, Pallasgreen.
All three wee found guilty by way of a unanimous verdict after the jury considered the evidence for four hours.
The three men denied charges of aggravated burglary and the false imprisonment of Gerard Garvey, Ann Garvey and three of their four children and this Monday Judge John Hannan will consider sentence after a review of the evidence is put before the court.
Patrick and Phillip Roche were also convicted in relation to another violent burglary less than a month after the Sunville House raid when they broke in to the home of three elderly siblings at Ballyluddy, Pallasgreen on May 31, 2012.
The three men have been remanded in custody since their conviction last July.
During the trial, the jury heard that Ann Garvey, who was recovering from breast cancer surgery, was having a bath when a gang of armed raiders burst in to her home.
She said that the men, who were armed with a sawn-off shotgun, a baseball bat and a sledgehammer, said her daughter would be shot if she didn’t give them the key to the safe.
The mother-of-four said that her husband, Gerard was handcuffed in the sitting room and had a sawn-off shotgun pressed to his forehead.
One of their daughters was bound with cable ties and her twin brother was punched in the face and threatened with a baseball bat.
Gerard Garvey said that when he went to investigate a loud bang in the living room, he was confronted by a gang who had smashed the patio door. He said there were three or four figures dressed in black and wearing balaclavas.
He was looking down the barrel of a sawn-off shotgun as they forced him and his daughter to the ground.
The man with the gun said: “we’ll blow your head off and we will take your kids away and you’ll never see them again”.
They demanded the key of the safe which contained $3,000 and £5,000 but they wanted more.
Sgt Helen Holden told Judge Hannan that when she arrived to Sunville House, she found a scene of “panic, pandemonium, and trauma”.
Det Garda Niamh Brosnan said the family were extremely upset and shocked and that Gerry Garvey was still in handcuffs and had to be freed with bolt cutters.
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