Three men jailed for violent burglaries in rural county Limerick seven years ago have launched appeals against their convictions.

A couple whose family was held at gunpoint by raiders who broke into their home has called for a reform of the justice system following their captors’ sentencing.

Three elderly siblings were left battered and “covered in blood” after two armed and masked men burst into their isolated farmhouse and robbed them, Limerick Circuit Court heard today.

A 29-year-old man charged in connection with a ‘barbaric’ attack on three pensioner siblings at their isolated home in Limerick will serve no time in jail after receiving a suspended jail sentence.