Men jailed for horrifying Offaly attack which left victim without finger

SENTENCES totalling 15 years were imposed on two men involved in a horrifying Edenderry assault where the victim lost most of his ring finger.

Craig Connolly (30), Kinnefad, Edenderry, was sentenced to eight years in prison, including two suspended, and Sean Dillon (42), St Brigid's Road, Edenderry, who had previously been described as the getaway driver, received a seven-year sentence, with the final four years suspended.

They had both been found guilty at a Tullamore Circuit Court jury trial in May of assaulting Keith Dunne, causing him serious harm, at JKL Street, Edenderry on June 18, 2020.

Mr Connolly was also found guilty of possession of a Japanese pull saw which was used in the daylight attack.

At a sentencing hearing on Tuesday evening, Mr Connolly apologised for his actions and said what had happened was not supposed to happen like that.

Mr Connolly said he needed help because he had spent seven of the previous 10 years in prison.

Judge Johnson said that the offence of assault causing serious harm carried a maximum sentence of up to life in prison.

In this case, the force of the blow inflicted by Mr Connolly on Mr Dunne had caused the handle of the saw to come off and it severed the victim's finger.

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Mr Dunne had identified his assailant himself and a Ford Transit in which the men travelled was owned by Sean Dillon.

A palm print on the saw was identified as Mr Connolly's and though he spent 45 days in hospital getting treatment for his finger it could not be saved and was amputated a number of months after the attack.

Judge Johnson described the offences as extremely serious and said the ferocity of the attack was quite shocking.

He noted that Mr Dunne had suffered a life changing injury because he had worked as a bricklayer and could no longer do so and nor could he play guitar as he previously did.

Mr Connolly had 46 previous convictions and Mr Dillon had eight, though the most recent in his case dated back to 2008 and he had not been in trouble since.

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After the sentences were announced Mr Dunne, who was present in court throughout, was heard shouting “He's laughing at me”, an apparent reference to Mr Connolly, and the victim was escorted out by gardai.

Mr Connolly's sentence was back dated to June 23, 2020, the date he went into custody, while Mr Dillon's was back dated to May 5 this year, the date he went into custody after the trial.

The trial heard that Mr Dunne (36), a construction worker, was holding a barrier at JKL Street, Edenderry to prevent debris from going out onto the road while his employer was breaking concrete on a footpath.

A hooded man who was wearing a face mask came from across the street and struck Mr Dunne on his hard hat with what the victim thought was a machete.

The blow bounced from the hard hat onto his nose and then another downward strike resulted in fingers on Mr Dunne's left hand being severed.

The blade of a Japanese pull saw, 37cm long and with teeth on both edges, was found at the scene. Blood on it matched Mr Dunne's.

Mr Dunne had told the court he identified the attacker by a unibrow and a scar on his forehead.

Mr Dunne also said he knew Mr Connolly who was at the time in a relationship with Sophie Judge, the mother of Mr Dunne's child.

In interviews with gardai after his arrest, Mr Connolly denied ever meeting Mr Dunne and said he had been drinking all that day, a Thursday, and continued drinking until Sunday.

Sophie Judge, his partner at the time of the assault and mother of Mr Dunne's young son, gave alibi evidence that Mr Connolly was with her and the child when the offence was committed.

She told the trial she was shocked at Mr Connolly not telling the gardai that and she could not explain why he had said he was out drinking.

The jury heard that Sean Dillon had said he was driving around Edenderry on the day of the assault because he was looking for his mother, who he said was shopping, and he also wished to go to the Credit Union, but realised he had forgotten his book.

Mr Dillon had said in a statement to the gardai that somebody had got into the back of his van that afternoon but he did not know who that person was and he had let the perpetrator of the assault into his vehicle under duress.

The jury viewed CCTV footage recorded from a number of different premises in Edenderry which showed a white van driving around the town centre and the State's case was that it was scouting the location of the assault.