Seven men have been sentenced for an aggravated burglary in which a gang armed with guns and a machete raided the Corcoran family home near Killenaule while the family slept.
In a sentencing judgment delivered on 1 October 2015 at Clonmel Circuit Court, Judge Thomas Teehan said the offence ranked towards the very top of the scale of seriousness. He described the raid as highly planned and cited the weapons, the presence of young children, violence against the adults and the attack’s lasting effects on the family as aggravating factors.
The court heard that Mark and Emma Corcoran and their three children were woken during the raid. Detective Sergeant White gave evidence about the children’s screams and the threats made against the family. The judge said the children had been emotionally scarred. Mark Corcoran suffered significant eye and nasal injuries; the nasal injury required four surgical procedures, but he had not fully recovered. Emma Corcoran was receiving weekly psychotherapy, and the family continued to experience sleep difficulties and nightmares. The judge also referred to substantial expenses and the closure of the family business.
The sentences imposed were 20 years, with four years suspended, for Dean Byrne; 12 years, with seven suspended, for Michael McDonagh and Donal O’Hara; 12 years, with three suspended, for Thomas Flynn; 14 years, with four suspended, for Patrick Joyce; 20 years, with four suspended, for Patrick Gately; and 15 years, with four suspended, for John Joyce. The judgment set different commencement dates for the terms, including dates backdated to 2013 and 2014; Flynn’s sentence was to begin when his existing sentence ended.
The suspended portions were subject to conditions including keeping the peace, remaining free of alcohol and illicit drugs, engaging with the Probation Service for two years after release, and not entering County Tipperary without the relevant Chief Superintendent’s consent. The judge said remission meant the time served could be less than the stated sentence lengths.
The judge declined a defence request for a restorative justice approach, citing the seriousness of the crime and the family’s rejection of the defendants’ apologies. He separately invited the family to consider a possible meeting with individual defendants arranged through the Probation Service, stressing that this was only a request and not a court order.