Nigel Clancy
A 27-year-old Wexford man involved in a hammer and knife attack on a householder was sent to prison for three years.
Nigel Clancy of 1 John Paul Park, Murrintown, was told by Judge James McCourt at Wexford Circuit Court to take residential drug rehab or face a further six months behind bars.
The accused pleaded guilty in response to a charge of aggravated burglary at a property in Whiterock, Wexford. The crime occurred in the early hours on February 25 in 2023 at the home of Trevor Nolan.
The Circuit Court heard that Mr Nolan answered a knock on the door to find Clancy and another male outside. The two callers entered that house and Mr Nolan was hit about the head with a hammer. He managed to knock the hammer from the grasp of his attacker but was then slashed with a 12 inch knife.
The list of injuries inflicted included damage to legs, arm, chest and head. He was treated at Wexford General.
Gardaí who looked into the incident uncovered €3,000 worth of cocaine in the house. They also retrieved Clancy’s DNA from the handle of the hammer and from bloodstain found on the gate at the Old Farmhouse.
The defendant’s record showed previous convictions for assault and for drug offences.
The court was told that, once a decent individual, he changed following the death of his father shortly before his 21st birthday.
Drugs, including heroin and cocaine, had taken over his life, barrister Diarmuid Collins suggested.
Addressing Clancy, Judge McCourt observed: “You seem to have been living in a parallel universe where justice is handed out by individuals rather than the legal authorities. This kind of offending is appalling.”
The burglary merited a three and a half year suspended sentence, with the last six months suspended if the defendant takes up a place at Tiglin or some other similar residential rehab course.