Three men on ‘Wild West’ style crime spree

A seven-hour rampage in which three Limerick criminals struck fear into rural communities on the outskirts of the city, “smacked of the Wild West”, a judge said yesterday when jailing all three.

James O’Shea, aged 27 of Anthony’s Lodge, Roo West, Ardnacrusha; Jeffrey Kelly, aged 26, of 31 Willow Grove, Old Cork Road; and Tony Kelly aged 26, of 121, O’Malley Park, Southill, pleaded guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to charges involving theft, burglary, criminal damage and the illegal taking of a car during the early hours of May 27, 2015. Tony Kelly also pleaded guilty to additional charges of attacking and robbing a woman on her way home from bingo and threatening students while out socialising.

One couple, residing near Annacotty who had more than €10,000 worth of property taken from their home as they slept, told the court of the trauma the break-in had caused. In a victim impact statement, the couple said since the raid on their home, their peace of mind had vanished as they fear it could happen again. The woman now refuses to stay alone in the house if her husband is away.

When the criminal trio were confronted as they drove up to another house at Crecora, one of them shouted to a woman in the house: “If ye call the guards ye will be lucky to have ye’re house standing tonight.”

The seven-hour crime spree ended near Croom at 7am when they were cornered after a chase by Garda Alison Carroll and Garda Catherine Mulcahy in a marked garda car and Det Garda Paul Crowley and Det Garda John Keane in an unmarked car. The red Seat car the gang stole in the city was abandoned after it got a flat tyre. Two of the gang tried to escape through fields, but were caught in a cattle yard by Det Garda Crowley and Det Garda Keane.

During what John O’Sullivan, prosecuting, described as an odyssey of crime, the gang started with the theft of the car during a burglary in the city. From there they moved through a swathe of countryside stretching between Anacotty, Croom, Crecora and Patrickswell. As they moved in on a number of houses, they were confronted by the occupants and took off. Det Garda Crowley said the crime spree had caused a lot of distress in the communities targeted. He said: “These are quiet, rural areas and would not be used to this carry-on.”

Judge Tom O’Donnell said burglary is a very serious crime and the three had violated the homes of their victims, causing trauma and a sense of loss of independence and confidence. He added: “These are an appalling set of circumstances which were very frightening for the victims. It smacks of the Wild West in the way they behaved.”

Tony Kelly was jailed for six and a half years; James O’Shea was jailed for four years and Jeffrey Kelly was jailed for four years. O’Shea’s sentence was backdated to last March.