‘I was knocked to the ground. I said to them I am dying, I am dying’

Eva Sutton's peace was shattered at 4.38am on the morning of September 10th, 2015, when two men kicked in the front door of her home – 38 Dublin Road in Bray, Co Wicklow.

They ransacked the house, took jewellery and cash, and viciously assaulted their 89-year-old victim.

They beat her with her own walking stick and held it across her throat, kicked and punched her, pulled her around by the hair, and used dog-leads and belts to restrain her.

They weren’t able to force her wedding ring from her finger.

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Eva never returned home again, unable to face the horror of what she endured. She now lives in an assisted living facility, and still bears the burden of what Michael Cash and Jamie O'Brien did to her.

Bray man O’Brien (23) was sentenced in April to 10 years, with the final two suspended. Michael Cash (25) of Ballybrack was on Tuesday given a 10-year jail sentence, with two years suspended, by Judge Michael O’Shea at Wicklow Circuit Court.

Both men admitted burglary, false imprisonment and serious assault causing harm.

Before her ordeal, Eva Sutton was independent, capable, and charitable. Judge O’Shea has described her as “extraordinary”. Despite her advanced years she was perfectly content to live alone and enjoy a rich and active life.

It’s easy to imagine her going quietly about her business in the days before the attack – doing jobs around the house, feeding her dog.

Neighbours and passers-by would often see her polishing the front door of her house. She won a life achievement award from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, organised sales of work, quizzes, War on Want meetings and Cualann historical society evenings.

The night before she was attacked, all had been peaceful: Eva had dozed off watching television.

Unremitting assault

But her life changed completely after Cash and O’Brien’s unremitting assault lasting for 85 minutes. She was forced from her home permanently, having lived there for more than 50 years, raising a son and daughter, doing no harm to anyone, and enriching the lives of others.

She woke to a bang that morning and went to investigate, encountering the two men in her dining room. They went for her, Eva Sutton told gardaí in her statement, and demanded money and jewellery.

“They were vicious towards me,” she said, “ kicking me and trying to put the handle of my walking stick around my neck.

“I stopped them with my hand, pleading with them not to do it. I was knocked to the ground and left in a sitting position. I said to them ‘I am dying, I am dying’, which made no difference to them.”

They asked if she had a safe. “I told them ‘I am a widow and a pensioner, what good would a safe be to me?’ I was hit on my face with fists and they kicked me on the ground all over my body, including my chest and legs.

“I remember being pulled by the hair as they brought me from the hall to the sitting-room. I said ‘don’t do that, don’t do that’. They stopped and started kicking me instead.”

The pair used straps to tie her up by the legs and arms and shoved her into the sitting room.

“It was a horrific experience,” she said. “I thought the time would never go and they said ‘we could kill you’ and ‘we could shoot you’. This terrified me and I could only plead with them. I was so frightened.”

Her dog, Tulla, a rottweiler, was in the back yard but the men were careful not to open that door. O’Brien and Cash left the house at 6.03am.

Remaining strength

Mrs Sutton managed to free herself. The men had pushed a bookcase up against the front door but, despite her age and all that had happened, she found the strength to push it out of the way, go outside and raise the alarm.

A patrol car happened to be passing at the time, and they pulled over. One guard stayed with Eva, calling an ambulance, while the other set off in pursuit of her attackers.

She suffered multiple fractured ribs, a punctured lung, broken nose and stitches on her face and legs. She had deep bruising to her face, back legs and all over her body.

A garda chased the duo through a graveyard and around lanes and gardens. They managed to shake him off, but a large amount of evidence would be meticulously gathered in the subsequent hours and days.

Pills, a discarded purse, a glove, clothing and other items were found at the graveyard and in the area around Dublin Road. In a nearby shop, the men tried to spend a £20 note. UK cash was among the items taken from Mrs Sutton.

O’Brien and Cash were stopped in Shankill a couple of hours after they left Mrs Sutton’s house. Her blood was found on O’Brien’s T-shirt and hoodie.

Other than “no comment”, the only response O’Brien made over the course of a number of interviews in December 2015 was: “I’d like to take a break.” During his Garda interviews, Cash denied any knowledge of the crimes against Mrs Sutton.

As O'Brien was about to be sentenced last April, his barrister asked Garda Patrick Milward if the fact that O'Brien was admitting the offence had spared Mrs Sutton from reliving her ordeal.

“I don’t believe so,” said the garda. “I think she’s relived it every day.”