Jail for man who attacked Offaly intruder because he thought he had gun

TULLAMORE Circuit Court heard a man chased an intruder down a street and beat him with a pick axe handle because he believed the other man was armed with a gun when he broke into his house.

Keith Wright (30) St Francis St, Edenderry, was jailed for three years and three months, including nine months suspended, for assaulting Todd Morrissey in Edenderry on May 13, 2021.

Judge Keenan Johnson heard that Mr Wright, a former Republic of Ireland under 15 footballer, had been friendly with Mr Morrissey but did not recognise him because he had a hood up.

Judge Johnson viewed CCTV footage which showed Mr Wright hitting Mr Morrissey up to 13 times with the weapon on the footpath on St Francis Street.

The sentencing hearing followed Mr Wright's guilty plea in July to assault causing harm and the court was told the accused had been in prison since November for a different offence.

The court heard gardai had received a report at 6.10pm of an assault and when they arrived the victim was lying on the ground motionless with thick congealed blood at his head.

Garda Leslie Coss told the court that when she pulled back the man's hoodie she recognised him as Todd Morrissey.

CCTV footage was played and two figures could be seen running along the a street of residential houses and when the chasing man, identified as Mr Wright, caught up with the other individual on the road, Mr Morrissey, he was struck several times with an implement, knocked to the ground, struck again, and then dragged to the footpath where further blows were struck.

In a statement, the victim told gardai he was a drug addict who had taken methadone and smoked some weed that day and was “off his head”.

He went to Keith Wright's house and because he could not get an answer at the door he picked something up and smashed a window at the back.

Mr Morrissey then saw Keith Wright and heard him say “You little sh..” and the victim took off running.

He was in hospital for two days afterwards and sustained two fractures to his skull, plus a broken finger.

A medical report stated he failed to show up for appointments after his release from hospital.

Garda Coss said Mr Wright told a witness after the assault that the victim had tried to break a window in his house with a brick and he asked if Mr Morrissey was dead.

Garda Coss said she went to Mr Wright's address and noticed him looking out a window and when she spoke to him he told her a man had been trying to break into his house and he chased him to get him to stop.

He said if he had known it was Mr Morrissey he would not have gone after him and after initially denying he had used a weapon, he said he used a pick axe.

In a subsequent interview with the guards when he was arrested, Mr Wright said he had fallen asleep watching TV and then heard a window smash and saw an arm coming in the door and trying to open it with a key on the inside.

He had known Todd Morrissey for about 10 years and had drunk with him before and he had thought the person breaking into his house was holding something so he feared for his own life.

Garda Coss added that there was no victim impact statement from Mr Morrissey because she believed he was in homeless accommodation in Dublin having previously been in Athlone and efforts to contact him weren't successful.

Kevin White, BL, prosecuting (instructed by Sandra Mahon, Offaly state solicitor), said the accused had committed the offence while subject to a suspended sentence.

He had several previous convictions for assault causing harm, and had been sentenced to three years in prison on several occasions, plus a seven-and-a-half-year sentence dating from 2011 for assault causing serious harm.

Replying to defence counsel Damien Colgan, SC, Garda Coss said she knew Keith Wright and Todd Morrissey knew each other for about 10 years and the accused had given the victim money previously.

She said a black multitool was found at the scene of the assault and she believed Mr Wright thought it was a gun when he saw it during the attempted break-in.

Garda Coss agreed with Mr Colgan that Mr Wright, a father of two, was originally from Finglas and had won four caps for Ireland at under 15 level in soccer but then suffered a triple leg fracture and became addicted to pain medication, and later heroin.

The accused was serving a 12-month sentence since November 9 and prior to that, had been in custody on remand for the assault before the court since June 12.

Mr Colgan outlined that Mr Wright's partner was an accountant with a very good job and the accused had started a business studies course in prison.

He hoped to go into residential drug addiction treatment after his release.

In relation to the assault on Mr Morrissey, defence counsel said of the accused: “He's adamant this man had what appeared to be a gun in his hand.”

Sentencing Mr Wright, Judge Johnson said he accepted the accused had seen a hooded figure with what he thought was a gun but Mr Wright was no longer under threat after he chased the other man and repeatedly striking him was grossly disproportionate.

The maximum sentence for the offence is five years and the judge ranked Mr Wright's offending at the “upper end” so it would attract a sentence of four years and nine months.

After mitigation, some of which was due to his guilty plea, he imposed the three years and three-month sentence, with the last nine months suspended for three years on entry of a peace bond and supervision by the probation service.

Mr Wright must also undertake a residential drug treatment programme and remain free of drugs. He gave him credit for the five months he has already served.