Extra prison time for leader of ‘mob’ who terrorised woman in her Limerick home

THE ringleader of a mob who threatened to kill a woman after a “vigilante” gang of men forced their way into her home in a Limerick village, will spend a further 18 months in prison after a successful appeal by the State.

Last week, the three-judge Court of Appeal heard that William Lyons made his way along with two others, as part of a larger gang, into the home of the woman whose small children and partner were in the house with her at Cois Rioga, Caherconlish on February 17, 2021.

At a sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, in November 2021, prosecution lawyers said that Lyons, aged 49, of Mount Singland, Garryowen, Limerick was “suited and booted” alongside a total of ten “vigilantes” when he arrived at the house at around 6.20pm.

The sentencing court was told that Lyons of Mount Singland, Garryowen, Limerick, arrived at the house with others who had their faces covered and were carrying pitchforks and hurleys.

In sentencing Lyons to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment, Judge Tom O'Donnell said the incident “smacked of vigilantism” that was “unacceptable in any civilised society”. He sentenced Lyons to three-and-a-half years' imprisonment but suspended the final year.

Judge O’Donnell said what happened was “outrageous and premeditated” and was clearly designed to instil fear and intimidate those in the house. Lyons had pleaded guilty to burglary, making a threat to kill and violent disorder.

However, the State then successfully appealed against what they submitted was the “unduly lenient” two-and-a-half year jail sentence Lyons received.

'Vigilante mob' member who threatened to kill Limerick woman to have sentence increased

At the Court of Appeal this Tuesday, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the court had quashed the original sentence and would impose a jail term of four years.

Reading the court's judgement, he said the sentencing judge had erred in fixing five years' imprisonment as the pre-mitigation headline sentence as it “did not reflect the gravity of the offending”.

Mr Justice McCarthy said the “totality” of the offending was not reflected by the two-and-a-half year sentence when the accused was the “leader” of the gang who solicited others on the day.

The judge identified a headline sentence of seven years, remarking that “eleven men were involved in total in a premeditated and orchestrated group invasion into a family home”.

Mr Justice McCarthy said a child had been injured by smashed glass during the incident, which had adverse effects on the victims.

He said Lyons did not come to court benefiting from a good character but that he was entitled to mitigation for his guilty plea, his difficult family circumstances and his wife’s poor health.

Mr Justice McCarthy said the court would increase the original sentence by 18 months to four years' imprisonment with no part of that sentence suspended.

At the undue leniency hearing, Monika Leech BL, for the State, said the trial judge erred in identifying five years as a headline sentence as it “failed to reflect the seriousness of the offending” and the “physical and psychological harm done to the victim”.

She said a “forceful mob” had turned up at the house and damaged lights and windows with the victim's “very small baby” suffering small cuts to its forehead from smashed window glass.

Ms Leech said the incident was aggravated because it occurred at a private home and that the respondent had led the “mob” to the house before telling the victim he would return to her home and kill her.

She added that the victim could recognise Lyons as he was not wearing any face covering unlike the other members of the group.