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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.
 Gardaí are urgently appealing for information, after a middle-aged man was assaulted before being locked into a shed, during an aggravated burglary, some 9.0 km (6 miles approx.) from Roscrea, in Co. Tipperary.
The incident is believed to have begun at around 2.00am, when four men are understood to have forced their way into the victim’s farmhouse, situated at Glasderrybeg, Brosna, Co. Offaly, just a 10 minute drive from Roscrea, in Co. Tipperary.
The male occupant of the farmhouse, a farmer and sole resident aged in his mid-50’s, was assaulted and then confined in a shed. The farmer, however, managed to escape from the shed to a neighbouring house, where the alarm was raised and an ambulance summoned. The victim was taken to the Midland Regional Hospital, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, where he remains for treatment to what are described thankfully as “non life-threatening injuries”.
It is understood that this is the second time that this particular farmhouse has been the target of unwelcome intruders in the last six weeks, with this morning’s criminal element quickly fleeing the scene, having stolen what was described as “a small sum of money”.
Gardaí at Birr Garda Station are appealing to farmers, local residents and landowners in the Shinrone area, to check for discarded clothing in fields or hedgerows. They are asking that if such clothing is located, please not to handle same and to contact, immediately, Birr Garda Station at Tel: 057-9169710.
Gardaí have also appealed to anyone who may have noticed anything suspicious or may have identified unusual vehicle movements in the Drumakeenan and Glassderrybeg areas on the N62 Birr to Roscrea Road, either last night or in previous days leading up to today’s incident; to contact them at Birr Garda Station, at Tel: 057-9169710 or via the Garda Confidential Line at Tel: 1800 666 111.
€30k worth of Cannabis seized from a ‘Grow House’ near Moyne, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
 Cannabis Sativa A cannabis ‘Grow House’ was discover on Friday last, 27th October 2017, during a planned search of the Moyne area, close to Thurles, here in Co. Tipperary.
Tipperary Gardaí discovered the ‘Grow House’, containing an estimated €30,000 worth of cannabis herb, as part of their search during last weeks ‘Operation Thor’ offensive combating known criminal activity here in the north of the county.
Operation Thor was set up to actively target organised crime gangs and repeat offenders through co-ordinated crime prevention and enforcement activity. The offensive operation is based on the gathering of intelligence, on the latest crime trends and patterns, to protect in particular rural communities.
We understand that during the search, one male was arrested and a file will now be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions, in relation to the discovery and cannabis seizure.
Some nine other individuals were also arrested across Co. Tipperary, for possession of much smaller quantities of drugs, found during other Garda searches.
Former disgraced 2016 Rio de Janeiro Irish Olympic boxer Mr Michael O’Reilly (Jnr.), with an address at No. 20 New Line Close, Mountrath, Co. Laois, was handed down a sentence of 5 months imprisonment with recognizances of €500 set in the event of an appeal in Thurles District court today.
It was noted that Mr O’Reilly (Jnr.) had 37 previous convictions, relating to road traffic offences and theft. He had been earlier charged with criminal damage, public intoxication and with being threatening and abusive in public, following an incident in Ballybeg, Littleton, Thurles, on April 18th last year.
 Thurles Courthouse. The boxer, who tested positive for a banned substance back at the 2016 Olympics, was later charged, together with three others accused; namely Mr Michael O’Reilly (Snr.) with an address at Clonkeen, Portlaoise, Co. Laois; Mr Bernard O’Reilly, Main Road, Clonkeen, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, and Mr James O’Reilly, (then a 17-year-old juvenile) and residing at Clonkeen, Portlaoise, Co. Laois; with causing criminal damage, which involving the throwing of rocks at two cars (Models: Nissan Micra and Citroen Hatchback) and a caravan (Model: Bailey Regency 2001), following an engagement party.
Sentencing today, Judge Elizabeth MacGrath noted that of the €2,500 of damage brought about by the said incidents, only €250 had been offered to the Court, by way of compensation to the victims.
Judge MacGrath bound Mr James O’Reilly (Now aged 18 years old, with no previous convictions), over to keep the peace for 12 months, on his own bond of €250; while imposing a 3-month prison sentence on Mr O’Reilly (Snr.) with a fixed recognizances of €500 in the event that he, the latter, should appeal the current sentence. The forth other member accused, Mr Bernard O’Reilly, was not present in Thurles Court for the hearing.
 Thurles, The Cathedral Town Thurles born, Mikey Ryan, following a recent health scare, decided it would be best to confide a previously undisclosed, yet nagging secret, to his local parish priest.
“After all God sees everything”, as Mikey pointed out to me, “so it would be only logical to get things sorted out down here on earth, instead of slowing down others on their processional route, through Heaven’s Pearly Gates”.
I must say personally that I felt Mikey should have kept his secret, especially what with the cost of Mortgages now-a-days and the inability of Banks to loan out money; but Mikey remained adamant. True to his word, down in the Confessional of the Cathedral of The Assumption here in Cathedral Street, Thurles, last Friday; Mikey finally admitted that he had been stealing materials from the building supplier, who had kept him gainfully employed for the past 45 years.
“Have you no shame and are you not aware of the moral imperative laid down by God in His commandments”, asked a chastising old priest.
“Surely you remember your catechism and the words, ‘Thou shalt not steal’. Remember the words also, my son, ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour’s’,” rhymed off the old priest, “Indeed my son you have grievously broken not one, but two of God’s Commandments, through endeavouring to scheme, covet and acquire another man’s possessions”.
The old priest paused briefly before asking, “So what did you actually steal from your employer and neighbour, my son”.
“Well Father, to be totally honest, I stole, over the past 40 years, enough to build my own four bedroomed house; then there was my son’s house, and two other houses for both of me daughters”, confessed Mikey.
“Oh and Father in the last year I built a small week-end fishing lodge over on the shores of Lough Derg, to accommodate myself and a couple of me mates to hangout in”, continued Mikey, making a conscious decision to rid himself of his entire guilty secret, once and for all.
“This is truly a serious matter my son”, stated the priest, “Pray now to God, seeking forgiveness, while I think of an appropriate penance for your most grievous of sin.”
Some minutes later the old priest asked, “Tell me Mikey have you ever done a retreat in the past”.
Mikey thought for a moment, before replying, “Begob no Father I haven’t, but sure look if you can produce the plans, I can get you most of the necessary building supplies”.
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