Limerick gang members jailed over burglary at isolated farmhouse in County Clare

FOUR members of a Limerick-based crime gang have received lengthy prison sentences for their role in a burglary at an isolated farmhouse in County Clare nearly five years ago.

The four defendants all pleaded guilty to burglary charges arising from an incident at Ballyveskill, Tiermaclane - 9km from Ennis - on January, 5 2018.

They are Patrick Woodland, aged 48, of Greenmount Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston; his son Edward Woodland, aged 23, of the same address; John Woodland, aged 44, of Clarina Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston and Paul Kiely, aged 35, of Glencairn, Dooradoyle.

During a previous sentencing hearing, Ennis Circuit Court was informed three of the burglars - Patrick Woodland, Edward Woodland and Paul Kiely fled from the farmhouse after discovering that the sole occupant, 97-year-old James (Jimmy)  O’Connor was asleep in his bed.

At around 3.30pm on January 5, 2018, the raiders had kicked in the door of the house and broke a lock ransacking the home looking for cash before they realised Mr O'Connor was in the property.

All three were caught ‘red handed’ by gardai as they tried to make good their escape through fields around the O’Connor home. Nothing was taken in the burglary and Judge Eoin Garavan accepted there was no threat of violence and that violence was not used.

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The court heard that as part of the planned burglary, one member of the gang - John Woodland - lured James O’Connor’s son, Vincent O’Connor, away from his home to a nearby field on the pretence of buying silage as part of “a clever decoy”.

John Woodland had first contacted Vincent O’Connor concerning purchasing silage at the start of December 2017.

Imposing sentence this Wednesday, Judge Garavan stated that the burglary offence carried out by the gang “is of intense social concern” and there must be a deterrent.

He said such offences “terrify people in rural areas where there is little protection against this and who do not have gardai on their doorstep”.

Judge Garavan stated that the “absolute fear and trauma to the victims that can be occasioned” by such offences in rural areas can’t be overstated.

An aggravating factor, he said, was that the offence was premeditated and carefully thought out. Gardai, he noted, were on the scene as they knew that a burglary was going to take place as a result of intelligence received.

Judge Garavan said the three raiders displayed “humanity in the midst of a serious crime” when they decided to flee from the house after discovering there was an elderly man asleep in the home at the time.

He commented that it would have been very traumatic for Vincent O’Connor returning to his home on the afternoon and not knowing if his father had been interfered with or tied up.

The judge said the O’Connor farmhouse was an easy target for the raiders in a rural area.

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While James O’Connor died peacefully at his home in March 2018, his death was not related to the January burglary where his sleep was undisturbed.

A five-year prison sentence was imposed on Patrick Woodland; a five-year prison sentence was also imposed on Edward Woodland with the final year suspended; a five-year prison term was imposed on John Woodland with the final two years suspended while Paul Kiely was sentenced to three and-a-half years' imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended.

Detective Garda Brendan Rouine told the court that Patrick Woodland and John Woodland were each jailed for three years in 2012 for a similar type burglary which occurred in Galway in 2011.

The detective said that Vincent O’Connor, who has installed enhanced security features at his home,  didn't wish to make a victim impact statement and couldn’t attend court due to a cattle herd test.