Three years for man who burgled home of man he saved from drowning

A Tallaght man who burgled the family home of a man he saved from drowning in the canal has been jailed for three years.

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 Hopital 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 in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, 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 suspended the final 18 months of Nevin’s sentence and gave him full credit for the time he’s spent in custody on the matter.