Manhunt over as teen escapee walks into court for sentencing
Christopher Curtin, aged 18, escaped from custody on Wednesday as he was brought to prison on remand on other matters.
At his sentencing hearing in the circuit court yesterday, Curtin, of Salvia Court, Southill, Co Limerick, was jailed for three years, with the final year suspended, after he pleaded guilty to burglary at the home of solicitor Turlough Herbert, a former Limerick hurler.
Curtin was one of three men who gardaí alleged had illegally entered the solicitor’s home at the rear of Herbert’s Bar, Sallymount, Castleconnell, on the old N7 road, on May 5, 2011.
The circuit court was told Mr Herbert had confronted the three burglars and was bitten by one of the culprits, not Curtin.
The three youths, who were all from Limerick city, were apprehended by gardaí a short time after the incident.
Gardaí told the court Mr Herbert’s suspicions were aroused shortly after midnight when he noticed a number of windows were open at the house.
When he and his sister, who also resided at the house at the time, went to investigate, they encountered three young men in a bedroom of the house.
The court was told that two of the three men, but not Curtin, were armed with a knife and a scissors.
A brief struggle followed, during which one of the men bit Mr Herbert on the hand.
Gardaí said during the fight, one of the culprits was urged by the others to stab Mr Herbert and his sister.
This did not happen, however, and all three culprits escaped through a window.
Gardaí said Mr Herbert’s jeep, which had been parked outside, was then stolen and abandoned a short distance away.
A second man was previously jailed for two years for the burglary, while a third man is currently before the courts in relation to the incident.
Sentencing Curtin yesterday, Judge Carroll Moran said the defendant was “convicted out of his own mouth” because without admitting his role in the burglary to gardaí, there would have been no case against him.
“It was a very traumatic experience for Mr Herbert and his sister, who were encountered by three men in the residential part of a licensed premises,” Judge Moran said.
A probation report handed into the judge said Curtin was of a “high risk of re-offending”.
Curtin is also due to appear before Limerick District Court on Tuesday for stealing a car, an offence he has pleaded guilty to, Judge Moran was told.
When Christopher Curtin’s sentencing hearing was called yesterday at Limerick Circuit Court, his barrister, Pat Whyms BL, asked Judge Carroll Moran: “Can you leave that stand, judge? My client was present a few moments ago but was arrested by gardaí in the courtroom five minutes ago. He’s been unlawfully at large in relation to another matter.”
Minutes beforehand, Curtin, wearing sunglasses, calmly walked into court one at the Circuit Court building on Merchants’ Quay and sat down beside members of his family.
As he waited to be sentenced for burglary he was suddenly re-arrested and taken back to Limerick Prison, where he had been held on remand.
Eagle-eyed court garda Richard Quigley spotted Curtin, who had been on the run for two days, walking into the courtroom around midday.
Gda Quigley immediately alerted colleagues at Henry Street garda station and within minutes, Curtin was re-arrested and returned to prison.
Curtin then had to be processed back at the jail across town, before been returned to the Circuit Court to be sentenced for the burglary offence.
Last Wednesday, Curtin and another man escaped from garda custody as they were brought to Limerick Prison after appearing at the district court.
The men fled on foot towards the city centre as they waited in a garda vehicle for officers to open the prison gates.
An investigation is continuing into the incident.
The other man was still at large yesterday.
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