Limerick man jailed following pipe-bomb attack at home

A YOUNG man who threw a pipe bomb through the front window of a house on the southside of the city has been jailed for five years.

Stephen Grace, aged 26, of no fixed abode admitted carrying out the attack at Galvone Road, Kennedy Park less than three months after he was involved in a shooting incident in broad daylight.

During a sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Dean Landers said the incident happened at around 12.15am on September 22, 2017.

He said Mr Grace approached the house and threw a “rock followed by a pipe-bomb” through the sitting room window before fleeing from the scene.

The occupants of the house were not in the house at the time but raised the alarm when they arrived home a short time later.

The area was evacuated and an army bomb disposal team deployed from Collins Barracks in Cork.

Detective Garda Landers told John O’Sullivan BL, prosecuting, that Mr Grace had lit the fuse before throwing the pipe-bomb but that it did not explode.

”It failed to function as intended,” he said.

A forensic examination confirmed the device was 165mm long and that that it contained 28g of nails and explosive material.

Judge Tom O’Donnell was told Stephen Grace was captured on CCTV footage from the area and that following his arrest the following day he made admissions telling gardai he had been forced to carry out the attack as he owed a €10,000 dug debt.

Colman Cody SC said his client had not manufactured the device and that it was “handed to him” by another person who was not before the court.

He said Mr Grace comes from a dysfunctional background and that he accepts he made a stupid decision.

Imposing sentence, Judge O’Donnell noted the defendant had been “prevailed upon” and that he was leading a chaotic lifestyle around the time.

He said he was fortunate the device had not ignited and he commented that his plea was of “enormous value”.

The judge imposed a five year prison sentence which, he directed, should  be served concurrently with a three year prison sentence which was imposed in relation to a shooting incident which happened at Maple Court, Kennedy Park on July 11, 2017.