Break-in victim's grandson calls for law reform

A WELL-KNOWN entertainer has criticised the Irish criminal justice system after his elderly grandfather was beaten unconscious during a robbery at his home.

The magician Keith Barry said anyone caught breaking into a pensioner’s home should be handed a mandatory three-year sentence as part of a campaign to strike fear back into the minds of criminals.

His grandfather, Paddy Barry, was left unconscious following a break-in at his home in Waterford city.

It is feared the 82-year-old man, who has lived in the property for almost 60 years, may have suffered brain damage during the robbery.

Gardaí said the culprit broke in through the front door of the house in the Mount Sion area of the city between 8pm and 10pm on Wednesday.

A man was questioned by detectives in Waterford in relation to the incident. He was arrested on Thursday under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, and was released last night without charge.

Gardaí have appealed to anyone with information about the robbery or anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the Mount Sion or Ballybricken areas of the city between 8pm and 10pm to contact them.

Mr Barry said that other elderly people living in the usually quiet Mount Sion area of the city were petrified following the attack as they believe criminals were showing little fear and laughing in the face of the law.

“These thugs have no fear. They have no fear for the law. They have no fear for the justice system and they have no fear of us in our homes,” he said.

“I think anybody who enters a pensioner’s home uninvited . . . should get a mandatory sentence, without bail, without excuses,” he said.

Mr Barry said his grandfather has been unresponsive since the attack, having suffered bleeding on the brain, and that he had shown little sign of recovery since.

“He is fighting for his life,” Barry said.

“He is elderly, but he is quite a healthy elderly man. He had a good 10 to 15 years’ healthy living left in him.”

Mr Barry called on the Department of Justice to introduce tougher laws punishing those who target older people.

The department said that the Law Reform Commission is drafting a Bill of complex legislation to address matters surrounding break-ins.

The Bill is also likely to cover what a householder can do to protect themselves at such times.

On Thursday, the Government rejected a Fine Gael Bill which would have given greater protection to householders who attack burglars in their home.

However, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern is expected to table a set of reforms on the subject before the end of this year.