{"id":208607,"date":"2025-12-24T13:21:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/208607\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T13:21:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:21:13","slug":"first-christmas-of-lengthy-sentence-for-violent-and-dangerous-limerick-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/208607\/","title":{"rendered":"First Christmas of lengthy sentence for \u2018violent and dangerous&#8217; Limerick man"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A JUDGE described a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.limerickleader.ie\/limerickleader.ie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Limerick<\/a> burglar, who woke up a 91-year-old asleep in his bed while holding a dagger, as a \u201cviolent and dangerous man\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Colin Daly said the situation could only be worse if the accused had actually assaulted the nonagenarian.<\/p>\n<p>READ NEXT:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.limerickleader.ie\/video\/crime-and-courts\/1973902\/husband-of-woman-killed-in-rathkeale-granted-bail-on-condition-he-stays-away-from-the-town.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Husband of woman killed in Rathkeale granted bail on condition he stays away from the town<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Patrick Byrnes, aged 23, of O\u2019Loughlin\u2019s Lane, Thomondgate, Limerick city pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary with a knife at a home on O\u2019Connell Avenue in Limerick city; possession of a knife at Parnell Street in the city and threatening to kill or cause serious harm to gardai. All the offences occurred on June 15, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Prosecuting barrister John O\u2019Sullivan, instructed by State solicitor Padraig Mawe, outlined the evidence with the assistance of Detective Garda Tom Moynihan on an earlier date. Byrnes was represented by Liam Carroll BL.<\/p>\n<p>Jude Daly, in summarising the evidence, said the 91-year-old man lives alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was in bed (around 8am) and was woken up by a man leaning over him, very close to his face. The accused demanded his car keys. His face was covered and he was holding a dagger type knife.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe victim shouted at the intruder to leave and he followed him out of the house. Cabinets were ransacked and various items were stolen,\u201d said Judge Daly, who added that the pensioner found the incident very alarming and frightening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe suffered no physical injuries but was very shocked,\u201d said the judge.<\/p>\n<p>Byrnes was approached by gardai a short time later at 9.11am on Parnell Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was carrying a white coal sack with various items that he had stolen from the house. The accused dropped this stolen property, approached the patrol car with the knife and threatened gardai that if they followed him, he would stab them. He fled the scene,\u201d said Judge Daly.<\/p>\n<p>Byrnes was arrested by gardai four days later and made full admissions to gardai, referred to himself as a \u201cscumbag\u201d and offered an apology<\/p>\n<p>Judge Daly, in determining the sentence, said Byrnes targeted a residential premises at a time when it was very likely to be occupied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe confronted the occupant, armed with a dagger. He targeted a vulnerable elderly man who lives alone and ransacked his home,\u201d said Judge Daly, who added that Byrnes&#8217; 89 previous convictions were an aggravating factor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking at Byrnes\u2019 previous convictions, he is a violent and dangerous man. He was on bail at the commission of this offence and was subject to a suspended sentence at the time<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe very elderly gentleman was very shaken by this ordeal, although thankfully he continues to be able to live in his home with the support of neighbours and friends. The situation could only be worse if Byrnes had actually assaulted him,\u201d said Judge Daly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The judge, in mitigation, took into account Byrnes\u2019 guilty pleas, admissions to gardai, his parents difficulties resulting in the family living in emergency accommodation where he came into bad company, his addiction and apology.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Daly sentenced Byrnes to eight years and nine months in jail with the last nine months suspended for the aggravated burglary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The judge imposed a three-and-a-half year prison term, to be served concurrently, for threatening to kill gardai. The possession of a knife charge was taken into consideration.<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A JUDGE described a Limerick burglar, who woke up a 91-year-old asleep in his bed while holding a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,61,60,67397,44,43,47264],"class_list":{"0":"post-208607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-limerick-circuit-court","12":"tag-limerick-city","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-thomondgate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}