On the night of the 16th April 2012, men broke down a glass rear door to the Garvey family home situated at Sunville House, near Pallasgreen in Co Limerick. The raiders, Limerick Circuit Court was told today, were armed with a sawn-off shotgun, a sledgehammer and a baseball bat, and threatened the aforementioned family, before assaulted them and changing their lives for ever.
Mr Patrick Roche, aged 54 years, his son Mr Philip Roche, aged 24 years, with addresses in Clondalkin Co. Dublin, and a son-in-law Mr Alan Freeman, aged 36 years, with an address at No. 73 Pierce Park, Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary; who all denied their part in the robbery, were all found guilty of the crime following a nine-week trial.
The three men subjected Mr Gerard Garvey, his wife Ann, and their four teenage children (two sets of twins aged 17 and 14) to a frightening ordeal. In demands for money, Mr Garvey was handcuffed and facially assaulted with the sawn-off shotgun before being informed that both he and his household would be murdered. One of his teenage daughters was tied up using cable ties, while one of his sons was also facially assaulted. The court was informed that the children of the family suffered nightmares; today remain frightened by even the slightest noise, while each day they remain fearful that a similar ordeal could reoccur.
The raiders eventually escaped, but not before stealing a large amount of cash from a family safe.
Mr Philip Roche and Mr Alan Freeman are on record as having a number of previous offences for both aggravated robbery and assault, with Mr Freeman having had one previous conviction sentence reduced by two years on appeal.
Sentencing by Mr Justice John Hannan will be imposed on November 24th 2017 next.
With banking institutions now curtailing counter services and with little or no interest being accrued on deposits / savings accounts; rural dwellers, in particular, are now being encouraged literally by these shameful institutions, to no longer lodge large sums of cash; holding same in their homes; something current government must now discuss and urgently address.
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