Jail for trespassing at Roscrea home

A teenager who trespassed on a property in Roscrea has been jailed by Judge Elizabeth MacGrath in Nenagh District Court.

Sgt Regina McCarthy told the court that Tommy Murphy, 19, of 24 Ard Na Gréine, Roscrea, entered the curtilage of a house at Tullaskeagh, Roscrea, at 3.14am on December 26 last year.

He was seen putting his hand on the front door and the couple inside the house were concerned and worried about his activities at such an early hour in the morning.

He subsequently gave a voluntary statement to gardaí in which he made full admissions in relation to being on the private property and identified himself on CCTV footage captured at the scene.

In a separate incident he was confronted by gardaí along with another individual encroaching on a childcare facility at Corville, Roscrea, at 11.20pm on February 7 this year.

He was subsequently arrested and conveyed to the local garda station. No damage had occurred at the childcare facility. A co-accused had been before the court and in that instance the case had been adjourned for the preparation of a probation report.

Sgt McCarthy said Mr Murphy had 29 previous convictions, including seven in relation to drugs, eleven under the Road Traffic Act and two in relation to criminal damage.

Defending solicitor Elizabeth McKeever said her client was currently serving an 18-month prison sentence in relation to a robbery charge and was due for release in November 2024.

He had no memory of going to the front door of the house in Tullaskeagh in the early hours of the morning due to his level of intoxication on the date.

In relation to the incursion on to the grounds of the childcare facility at Corville, her client was found by gardaí “just sitting there” with another individual.

He was very familiar to the court and had come from a background of tragedy as a child which had impacted on him later in life.

A father of a young child, he was a bright young man and was doing very well in prison where he intended to sit his Leaving Certificate next year. He had been in custody since March 21 this year.

Judge MacGrath said she considered the offences committed by Mr Murphy to be on “the lower scale”.

She noted that he was making efforts to deal with his addiction and that he was a “highly intelligent” young man that had previously secured a place in an educational establishment because of his high level of intelligence.

She told Mr Murphy that he could turn his life around if he could pull himself out of his addiction and make full use of the educational services available to him in prison.

For the incident at the house in Tullaskeagh, she imposed a three-month prison sentence, to run concurrent with the sentence he is already serving.

The charge in relation to trespass at the childcare facility in Corville was taken into account.