Patrick Sweeney and two others jailed for 15 years over Strokestown attack

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

Patrick Sweeney, Martin O’Toole and Paul Beirne were each sentenced to 15 years in prison on 28 July 2023 for their roles in an attack on security guards at a repossessed farmhouse near Strokestown, Co Roscommon. Judge Martina Baxter imposed the sentences at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

In June 2023, a jury found each man guilty of 15 charges arising from the attack at Falsk on 16 December 2018. The convictions included false imprisonment of and assault causing harm to Ian Gordon, Mark Rissen, John Graham and Gary McCourtney; aggravated burglary; violent disorder; criminal damage to a door; arson of three vans; and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

The three men 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.

Each man received 15 years for the false imprisonment of Mr Gordon and 14 years for the false imprisonment of the other three guards. Judge Baxter imposed 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 when the men entered custody. The judge declined to suspend any part.

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

Before sentence, O’Toole, who was representing himself, said he had been denied a fair trial because his legal team refused to take his instructions.