Elderly woman feels vulnerable after burglary

A burglary at the home and business of a Cloonfad mechanic has left his elderly mother feeling vulnerable, a court has heard.

Daniel McDonagh, aged 21, of Westview, Cloonfad, Co Roscommon, pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to burglary.

Sgt Shane Killeen told the court that Eddie Ronayne operates a mechanic's business from his family home at Ballyhaunis Road in Cloonfad where his elderly mother also resides. The victim received a concerning text message from his mother at 5.43am on July 11, 2022, and immediately went to the house. He discovered that a large stone had been thrown through a window and a Skoda Octavia was stolen, along with several sets of car keys. A Samsung S10 Phone, a Dell Inspiron Laptop, cables and two external hard drives, with a total value of €6,000, were also missing. The window of a car parked outside the property was damaged too. 

The defendant was located driving the Octavia in Ballintra, Co Donegal. He had earlier put fuel in the car at a filling station in Ballyshannon and left without paying. He made admissions to Gardaí about the burglary and directed them to the stolen property.

McDonagh was convicted of theft at Ballyshannon District Court arising out of the incident at the filling station. The damage to the house window totalled €400 and the damage to the car window was €1,000.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Ronayne said the incident torments him and his mother who does not feel safe in her own home anymore. The burglary also had an impact on his business because many of his customers, who would often leave their cars at his home overnight to be serviced or repaired the next day, were less likely to leave their vehicles there now.

Barrister Diarmuid Connolly said his client had written a sincere, heartfelt letter to the Ronayne family expressing his remorse. The episode occurred during a fortnight when McDonagh abused alcohol and recreational drugs.

The defendant presented two clean sets of urinalysis, dated up to May 2023, to the court. Mr Connolly said McDonagh wants to better himself and aspires to become a forklift driver.

Adjourning the matter to February 28 next, Judge Eoin Garavan said he would need to see more up-to-date urinalysis before sentencing.