Chronic drug addict jailed for attacking woman, 82, in Limerick

A CHRONIC drug addict who knocked a pensioner to the ground after breaking into her home in Limerick has been jailed for six and-a half years.

Dean Hayes aged 29, of Lee Estate, Island Road had admitted his role in the incident which happened in the Corbally area at around 9pm on May 8, 2016.

During a sentencing hearing last month, Garda Shaun O’Hagan said the woman, whose aged in her early 80s, was watching television in a downstairs room when she was alerted to a shadow moving in the hallway.

When she opened the door, she encountered Hayes who pushed her back and onto the floor. She later told gardai she thought she would be killed.

In addition to around €1,000 in cash and two mobile phones, Hayes stole various documents including the pensioner’s passport and bus pass.

Garda O’Hagan said while the woman, who suffers from a hearing impairment, was ‘shaken’ she did not require any medical treatment. He added that the woman spent some time in a nursing home following the incident.

Hayes, the court heard, made admissions relating to the incident following his arrest telling gardai he was “f***** up on drugs” at the time.

Andrew Sexton SC said his client has a dysfunctional background and that  there is a history of drug abuse.

Imposing sentence, Judge Tom O’Donnell said what happened was extremely frightening for the victim given her age.

He noted that Hayes had committed a number of other violent offences around the same time and that there are concerns that he may engage in further criminality in the future.

However , he accepted the defendant is “trying to clean himself up” and is doing well in prison.

He imposed concurrent prison sentences totalling six and-a-half years.