FOUR men have been jailed for three and half years with the final six months suspended, after they gatecrashed a house party, armed themselves with knives and broken bottles and assaulted the occupants of the property.
The four defendants travelled around Limerick in a taxi, looking for a house party, on August 22, 2021, Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard.
When they arrived at a house on the outskirts of the city they attempted to gain entry to the dwelling by kicking a lock on a door, and they eventually climbed into the property via a rear kitchen window.
Judge Colin Daly told the men’s sentencing hearing that the occupants had made it “abundantly clear that they were not welcome and they were not allowed in”.
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“They (four defendants) became aggressive to the occupants and the four accused armed themselves with knives and smashed bottles and used their fists to punch and fight the other occupants,” the judge said.
A number of occupants sustained injuries in the violent attack. The four defendants, Thomas O’Reilly, (19), Childers Road Halting Site, Limerick, who was 16 at the time; Calvin Kennedy, (23), New Road, Kileely, Limerick; Luke O’Donovan, (22), Wolfe Tone Terrace, Roxboro Road, Limerick; and Stephen McCarthy, (21), Orchard Heights, Charleville, Co Cork, were eventually ejected from the house.
Gardai arrived quickly and arrested the four defendants at the scene, despite Stephen McCarthy attempting to escape, the court heard.
Judge Daly said he had to balance the mens “early guilty pleas” and their “expressed remorse and apologies” with the fact that they were “not welcome” at the house, and that they “immediately became aggressive and confrontational” at the scene.
“They very quickly armed themselves with a knife, and broke bottles and used them as well as a frying pan as weapons; it must have been very distressing for the occupants,” the judge said.
One of the victims described it as “the most frightening incident of my life” and he thought he would be stabbed.
O’Reilly, who was out on bail at the time, has since been convicted for other offences, the court heard.
Kennedy offered an apology and has an employment history, it was heard.
McCarthy, who was 18 at the time, works part-time, has a partner and young child, and has engaged with Traveller mediation services.
O’Donovan, who was also 18 at the time, is an expectant father, apologised and was remorseful, the court heard.
All four men were jailed for three and half years with the final six months suspended for a period of three years provided they keep the peace and not reoffend in that period.
Judge Daly imposed a consecutive two-year sentence with the final 18 months suspended, on O’Reilly, after he pleaded guilty to engaging in a separate incident of violent disorder while he was on bail, at a filling station outside Limerick City, on August 7, 2023.
O’Reilly, as part of a group of men, attacked a car with a slash hook in what Judge Daly described as a “frenzied attack in broad daylight at a busy service station and the risk to the general public was considerable”.
