Martin O’Toole, PJ Sweeney and Paul Beirne jailed over Strokestown attack

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Martin O’Toole, PJ Sweeney and Paul Beirne were each sentenced to 15 years in prison at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 28 July 2023 for offences arising from an attack on security guards at a repossessed farmhouse.

A jury found the three men guilty in June of 15 charges relating to the incident at Falsk, Strokestown, on 16 December 2018. Their convictions included aggravated burglary, violent disorder and criminal damage to the house’s door. They were also convicted of false imprisonment and assault causing harm to Ian Gordon, Mark Rissen, John Graham and Gary McCourtney; three counts of arson involving vans; and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

The three were acquitted of robbing a wristwatch from John Graham and of one count of arson involving a car. A fourth defendant, David Lawlor, was found not guilty of all 17 charges.

Judge Martina Baxter imposed 15 years on each man for falsely imprisoning Mr Gordon, 14 years for the false imprisonment of the other three guards, 13 years for aggravated burglary, ten years for violent disorder and the arson charges, eight years for criminal damage and five years for animal cruelty. The sentences run concurrently and were backdated to the dates the men entered custody. The judge declined to suspend any part.

The prosecution said the group shared the goal of removing the guards and preventing their return, using violence to terrorise them. Defence lawyers argued that the evidence against their clients was too weak to support safe convictions and that the prosecution case was flawed and contaminated.