Man charged with aggravated burglary in Kildare placed in custody
Photo for illustrative purposes only
THE third of the three men who came to allegedly burgle homes in south Kildare that left an elderly man injured and bereft of €9,000, saw him join his two co-defendants in custody after he was also charged with the assault following his arrest on the morning of the court hearing this week (9 April).
Detective Garda Scott Browne gave evidence of the arrest and charge with theassault of Johnny Berry (38), of Graigueowen, Tullow, Co Carlow who had initially only been charged with two counts of burglary, and had until now been out free, having been remanded on continuing bail on two occasions in March.
Andrew Cash (29) of Ardristan Heights, Tullow and Niall Byrne (30), Flat 1, Harney’s Takeaway, Ballyedmond, Co Wexford both appeared for a third time at Naas District Court by videolink, and were again remanded back to custody until 21 April in Athy.
All three are now charged with trespass, theft and assault causing harm at an address in Ballitore, Athy on 27 January.
Det Gda Browne reminded Judge Desmond Zaidan that the injured party – a man in his eighties – “had sustained punches to his head and face, which saw him hospitalised for two days, while he lost his life savings, believed to be €9,000”.
“He’s not too bad now, but obviously very shook,” said the garda.
“However, weeks after this alleged break-in he had a fall at home and suffered a bleed on the brain, which medics believe may be related to the original assault.” “His (Berry’s) other charges are gone to 4 June,” Sergeant Mary Meade reminded the judge.
This prompted the judge to wrap all three co-defendants up onto the same list and he asked: “Can you bring these charges back to 21 April?”
The judge suggested to gardaí, “All three are now awaiting their Books of Evidence… I’m ready to send this forward as soon as possible (for Circuit Court trial), and when you do, tell the judge to make this a priority at call-over for early trial because of this man’s age.”
The detective said he would endeavour to do this, and the judge said: “if you don’t ask, you don’t get”.
All three are now remanded in custody to Athy on 21 April.
