Family thought they were going to die during armed raid on home

An eight-year-old girl told gardaí she thought her “daddy was going to die” when he was assaulted by an armed gang during an aggravated burglary in the family home, a court heard yesterday.

Seven men in their twenties from Dublin who have admitted the offence will be sentenced tomorrow for their part in the incident at the home of Mark and Emma Corcoran and their three daughters.

The gang entered the family’s house in Burnchurch, a rural area outside Killenaule in Co Tipperary, as trespassers, armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and a machete, early on November 21, 2013.