Man jailed for life for murdering pensioner

A Co Westmeath man was jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court today after he was convicted of murdering an elderly pensioner whose bank PIN number he wanted.

Mr Justice Barry White sentenced Ian Kinahan to the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for the murder of Michael Creighton. The jury of eleven men and one woman took just over an hour to return an unanimous verdict of guilty of murder.

Ian Kinahan (aged 37), originally from Streamstown , Mullingar,of no fixed address, had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Michael Creighton (aged 82) between August 31 and September 4, 2005 at Mr Creighton's flat at Belvedere Court, Castle St, Mullingar, Co Westmeath. The plea was not accepted by the State.

The jury was told during the four day trial that Kinahan told gardaí after his arrest how he tied up Mr Creighton and kicked him repeatedly to frighten him into giving him his ATM pin number.

He also admitted stamping on his chest after the PIN number that Mr Creighton had given had failed to work.

Kinahan said he had used heroin in the past and thought of Mr Creighton as Mr Creighton had lent him money in the past which he had repaid.

On the night of August 31, Kinahan had arrived at Mr Creighton's flat to stay the night. The following morning he asked Mr Creighton for his PIN number. In a statement to gardaí, Kinahan said that he needed €500 to pay off some drug dealers. He said he knew that Mr Creighton had "thousands of pounds and could afford a poxy €500".

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy said that Mr Creighton died from positional asphyxia, caused when the breathing mechanism is severely restricted. Mr Creighton was found lying on his front and Dr Cassidy explained that in a heavier individual such as Mr Creighton this could cause sufficient restriction to breathing.

However, Mr Creighton had also suffered eighteen multiple broken ribs consistent with severe trauma from a heavy weight on the chest. She described the injury as similar to that caused by a steering wheel to the chest in a car crash.