THE DEATH of pensioner Paddy Barry at his Waterford home after a break-in was a tragic event but Ireland already has clear and strong legislation dealing with burglars, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has said.
When asked if Mr Barry’s death raised questions about legislation protecting home owners from intruders, Mr Ahern said recent debate about what force a homeowner could or could not use against an intruder had nothing to do with Mr Barry’s death.
“Already we have a very strict law in relation to burglary,” Mr Ahern said.
“Somebody who commits a normal burglary can get up to 14-years’ imprisonment. Anybody who commits aggravated burglary – with a weapon or violence – can serve up to life imprisonment. So we have a very strict regime already”.
A postmortem on the deceased 82-year-old has found no injuries consistent with an attack.
Gardaí investigating the break-in at his home yesterday week and his death in the early hours of Tuesday morning believe Mr Barry’s face and head injuries may have been caused by a fall.
Mr Barry was able to ring gardaí and direct them to his home – on Mount Sion Avenue, near Waterford city centre – after the break-in at about 9pm last Wednesday. However, when gardaí reached the house they found Mr Barry collapsed.
He never regained consciousness and died in hospital six days later. Mr Barry’s grandson is the magician Keith Barry. He said in radio interviews that his grandfather had been beaten in his home and had suffered a broken arm and head injuries.
He called for Government action to protect older people in their homes.
However, it has since emerged that while Mr Barry’s home was broken into, he was not attacked.
Keith Barry also called for mandatory sentences for burglary offences.
Mr Ahern yesterday moved to differentiate between Mr Barry’s death and the debate in recent weeks about mooted legislation clarifying how far homeowners can go to protect themselves and their property from an intruder.
Speaking in Dublin yesterday as he launched two new websites – www.victimsofcrimeoffice.ie and www.csvc.ie – to help victims of crime, Mr Ahern said:
“The issue [of an occupier using force] we discussed last week in the Dáil had nothing to do with the particular incident of the type that Mr Barry was involved in.”