Criminal burgles home of man he saved from drowning

A Tallaght man will be sentenced later at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for burgling the family home of a man he saved from drowning in the canal.

Kenneth Nevin (aged 27) of Kilcarrig Green broke into Mr Raymond McMahon’s house in the neighbouring cul-de-sac and demanded €60 he claimed the family owed him for a Mater Hospital bill, when they discovered him in the sitting room with a screwdriver up his sleeve.

Nevin pleaded guilty to burglary at the Kilcarrig Avenue home on July 15, 2007 and told gardaí he believed the family owed him €60 for "pulling the Da out of the canal".

Detective Garda Gary Corrigan confirmed that Nevin had saved Mr McMahon’s life in the canal and both men were taken to the Mater Hospital for treatment, where Nevin claimed he was billed for €60.

Det Gda Corrigan told prosecution counsel, Mr John Quirke BL, that Nevin left the McMahon household when a family member opened the front door and asked him to leave, but returned an hour later banging on the door and threatening to burn the house down.

Gda Corrigan told Judge Frank O’Donnell that Nevin, a chronic alcoholic, had been in custody for nearly a year on these matters and had been "practically skeletal" last time he saw him.

Judge O’Donnell acknowledged that Nevin apologised to his victims and gardaí and adjourned the matter for a Welfare and Probationary Services report.