Childminder temporarily blinded during serial burglar’s crime spree

Sonya McLean

A serial burglar who carried out a spate of raids on various premises to pay off drug debts has been jailed for 10 and a half years.

Owen Maughan (47) of Dalton Park, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to nine burglaries, three robberies, assault causing harm, aggravated burglary and burglary of numerous premises including hotels, banks, residential properties, a veterinary clinic, a nail salon, a McDonald’s restaurant, a parish centre, a post office and a bookies.

The court heard that during one incident, Maughan pepper sprayed a childminder in a Dublin home, rendering her temporarily blind before taking her handbag. A number of children were present in the house at the time.

Maughan has 49 previous convictions, including attempted theft, burglary, aggravated burglary, armed robbery, criminal damage, escape from lawful custody and possession of a firearm with intent. He had just been released from custody when he carried out a number of the offences.

Aggravated burglary carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Maughan verbally threatened victims while demanding cash from the till. Some victims said they saw him with a taser, while a staff member in a parish centre said he threatened her with scissors. In most raids, Maughan suggested he had a weapon, but a weapon was never produced.

In many of the robberies, Maughan left with nothing, but in others he took cash of €200 and €360 and a handbag. In the final incident, he robbed over €7,000 from a bank.

On a few occasions, Maughan told victims, “I’m only messing” and asked “Can I get my nails done” before leaving a nail salon, having threatened staff and demanded cash.

Detective Garda Michael Cunningham told the court that Maughan walked into a house in Rathmines after the childminder in the house initially assumed he was a worker from the house next door where renovations were taking place.

The children of the house were outside in the garden, and she thought he might be delivering something for her neighbours so she told him to come in. Maughan pepper-sprayed her eyes, completely blinding her momentarily. He took her handbag before leaving the house.

She was later treated in hospital for her injuries.

Gardaí secured CCTV footage and identified the vehicle Maughan had arrived in. This was traced back to Maughan, and attempts were made to speak to him at a post office in Mullingar the following day. His car was searched, and two cans of pepper spray were found in it.

He was ultimately arrested but became extremely aggressive and violent during arrest and nothing of evidential value came out of his follow-up interviews with gardaí.

Detective Garda William McCarthy told the court that in the final incident, Maughan robbed €7,555 from an AIB on Dame Street in Dublin.

He came into the bank at 3.50pm just before closing time, wearing sunglasses and a yellow high vis jacket. He told the cashier, “give me all the cash or I’ll shoot you – I have a gun here”. The woman handed over everything from her cash drawer.

Maughan did not have a bag with him and had to stuff the cash into his pockets, Det Gda McCarthy said.

“He stuffed it anywhere he could,” he told the court. His movements were tracked using CCTV footage from the area, and he was identified as a suspect. Maughan was arrested and made full admissions.

Det Gda McCarthy agreed with Pieter Le Vert, defending, that Maughan told gardaí in interview, “I pray to God for my victims” and claimed he was not in “the right state of mind”.

He told gardaí that he had run up a debt of about €17,000, telling them: “These fellas kept letting it (the debt) run up and up”. He said he was addicted to both cocaine and tablets at the time and was taking drugs “to numb the pain”.

Le Vert said his client had “an extremely difficult” upbringing which was marked “by neglect and violence”.

He was in a serious road traffic accident when he was five years old, which left him with an extreme head injury. He has a very low IQ.

Counsel asked the court to take into account his client’s pleas of guilty, remorse and the fact that he is now drug-free in prison, having engaged with drug counsellors since his remand in custody.

Sentencing Maughan on Friday, Judge Orla Crowe said these were “inherently serious matters”. In relation to the childminder offence, she said it was “a serious violation of that family home and their peace of mind”.

She noted the childminder did not feel safe to return to work again, despite being with the family for many years, and that this must have had ramifications for the family. She noted children were present at the time of the offence.

She set sentences of three years and seven-and-a-half years, which she ordered to run consecutively. She declined to suspend any of the sentence, which she backdated to July 2024 when he went into custody.