A COUPLE had been mentally scarred for life when they were attacked when they returned home after enjoying a Valentine’s night meal, Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court has been told.
Seán and Emer Lavelle, of Dooagh, Achill, were set upon by two men wearing balaclavas and dark blue boiler suits when they returned home. The attackers were carrying nail bars.
Sgt Denis Harrington outlined how the couple had their arms and legs bound with duct tape before being subjected to a terrifying ordeal. The couple’s mobiles were taken and Ms Lavelle had duct tape stuck in her mouth.
One of the attackers accused Mr Lavelle of “messing around with women in Castlebar” and told him to get out of Achill by the weekend. He then struck him with a nail bar on the shins.
Yesterday Michael McMahon, of Ashlawn, The Loakers, Blackrock, Dundalk, was sentenced to 12 years for false imprisonment with the final three years suspended. He also received a four- year sentence for assault to run concurrently.
McMahon pleaded guilty to assault and falsely imprisoning Mr and Ms Lavelle at Tower Road, Dooagh on February 14th, 2010.
A neighbour of the victims, Tom Vesey, raised the alarm when he returned home a short time later. On spotting a vehicle acting suspiciously he gave chase as he thought it might contain thieves trying to steal fuel from central heating tanks.
The accused and his brother, who were in a car carrying false number plates, were stopped at a checkpoint later on the island and arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglarly.
In a victim impact statement to gardaí, Seán Lavelle said when ordered into a seperate bedroom by the men he thought he was going to be killed. He thought the men did not want to kill him in front of his wife.
One of the men beat him with a nail bar. He told his victim: “I will teach you a lesson . . . leave this island and never come back.”
Mr Lavelle said he could feel blood flowing from the beating. He managed to release his hands from the duct tape. “The experience will live forever in my mind . . . I find it impossible to relax. I don’t feel safe living in Achill any longer. I can’t sleep. I feel if I take sleeping tablets I will be murdered in my sleep.”
Ms Lavelle told in her victim impact statement of memory loss and anxiety since the attack. “Seán can’t bring himself to live in Achill any longer,” she said.
James O’Dwyer, counsel for the State, said one of the big unanswered questions for the couple was the reason for the attack. The judge also said this was “one of the mysteries of the case”.
Hugh Hartnett SC, for McMahon, said it had been a case of mistaken identity.