The elderly in society have a right to be protected by the State, a Circuit Court judge said yesterday in jailing a Corkman for four years after hearing how he imprisoned a pensioner for a five-hour period.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that on June 17th, Hugh Sheehan (30) arrived to the 82-year-old woman's house on the pretence of retrieving a lost football from her back garden.
The elderly woman accepted the story and allowed the man access to the garden where they both searched for the football.
However, after believing the man had left her premises, the pensioner heard noises from upstairs, where she discovered Sheehan ransacking the bedrooms looking for money.
When confronted by the householder, the defendant pushed her back, causing her to fall to the ground. He then locked the door of the bedroom where she was kept captive for almost five hours before being discovered by her grand-daughter.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin was told that although the pensioner didn't sustain any physical injury, she had been traumatised by the incident.
The effect of the event was such that she remains afraid to go upstairs and is restricted to living in the downstairs rooms.
Sheehan, from Kilreendowney Avenue, Ballyphehane, Cork, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary and false imprisonment of the pensioner at her home. The court heard that the defendant has a long history of drug and alcohol abuse and only obtained €14 from the robbery.
Defence counsel, Mr Tom Creed SC, said the defendant deeply regretted causing any upset to his victim.
A four-year prison sentence was imposed on Sheehan, dating from July 1st last.