Judgement reserved in case of Limerick men accused of attempted extortion

The Special Criminal Court in Dublin has reserved judgment in the trial of two Limerick men accused of breaking into a house in the city to extort money.

Nathan Killeen (aged 21) and his co-accused Niall Carey (aged 23) both from Hyde Road, Limerick have pleaded not guilty to trespassing at a house in Ballyclough Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston with intent to commit extortion on July 24, 2010.

The two men are accused of trespassing at the home of Sean Ryan and demanding €10,000 from him and his son Jonathan “Buddha” Ryan.

The court has heard that in the early hours of July 24 last year, Mr Sean Ryan was awoken by a commotion downstairs at his home at Ballyclough Ave. When he went down he found two men, one of whom he recognised as the accused Killeen, in an altercation with his son Jonathan.

It is the State’s case that Sean Ryan and his son forced the two men out of the house but they returned a short time later and gained access. They behaved aggressively and threatened Mr Ryan and his son and demanded €3,000 but this escalated to €10,000.

Mr Ryan told the court he was forced to sit downstairs while the accused Killeen went upstairs. Both men then left, demanding €10,000 as they did so. Mr Ryan made a complaint to the gardaí several days later and both accused were arrested.

Mr Ryan said that one of the accused men got a meat-fork from the kitchen and had held Jonathan Ryan “up against the door with the fork”.

He told the court that he feared for his son’s life and that Carey told him “If you call the cops, we’ll torch the house.”

Both men have denied going to the house at Ballyclough Avenue to demand money, telling gardaí in interview that they instead went there to buy some cannabis resin from Jonathan “Buddha” Ryan.

They also denied carrying weapons or making a threat to burn Sean Ryan’s house down.