A DISTRICT Court judge has refused jurisdiction in a case involving a mother and charged with entering the home of the Co Galway murder victim, Mr Tommy Casey, with intent to steal. The home of the retired firmer was targeted in advance - that it could be raided at night by a gang, Galway District Court heard yesterday.
A ruling that the two be tried in the Circuit Criminal Court was opposed by the two defendants, who have pleaded not guilty to the charge and sought a hearing in District Court.
Mrs Kathleen Connors (55), of Newcastle, Galway, and Ms Alison Connors (21), of Lurgoe, Killenaule, Co Tipperary, are charged with entering Mr Casey's home at Oranmore with intent to steal on January 15th. The farmer's badly beaten body was found on his kitchen floor on January 23rd, but no one has been charged with the murder.
State solicitor Mr William Kennedy said that four people - the defendants and two men travelled from Tipperary to Galway early on January 15th. They passed Mr Casey's house and returned later under cover of darkness. "They travelled there for the purpose of stealing from the house. They were aware that there was a person in the house," he claimed.
The evidence would be that Mrs Connors was the source of information for the gang and that she had been at the house previously selling clothes. It had been a premeditated act, Mr Kennedy claimed. There would also be evidence that they were apprehended afterwards and implements were found in a car they were travelling in. The maximum sentence for a burglary offence was 14 years, he noted.
Mr Gerry Allen, solicitor for Ms Connors, said that any extraneous matters should not come within the ambit of a decision on jurisdiction. His client did not appear to have a "hands on" involvement in the offence, he said.
Mr Jarlath McInerney, solicitor for Mrs Connors, said most burglaries took place in darkness, while the question of premeditation had to be proved. It was the type of offence often dealt with in the District Court.
Judge John Garavan ruled that the charge was one of felony and not a misdemeanour. On that basis he was refusing jurisdiction. He adjourned the case until Monday next to Galway District Court. The defendants were remanded on bail.