Court jails gang members who branded the word 'RAT' on victim's face and torso

The judge said the court had difficulty describing what happened as words like 'dreadful, horrendous and frightening are not sufficient to describe the horror'

Jason Hennessy got eight-and-a-half years for the charges. Picture: IrishPhotoDesk.ie

Five members of a Dublin criminal gang will serve prison terms between three and eight-and-a-half years for an assault in which the victim was waterboarded, beaten with an iron bar, threatened with being raped using a stick and branded with the word "RAT" on his face and torso.

Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Fiona Lydon, said the facts of the case were "shocking" and involved the use of a number of weapons designed to inflict injury and terror on the victim. 

She said the court had difficulty describing what happened as words like "dreadful, horrendous and frightening are not sufficient to describe the horror".

The branding marks on the victim's face were designed to "maximise the visibility of his humiliation", she said, and the actions of the defendants "bypass any notion of humanity".

The judge said the court also could not attach much weight to expressions of remorse by four of the accused, who she said had entered guilty pleas only after the trial had begun and when the victim, Barry Moore, aged 35, had been summoned to court by a warrant.

Brothers Jason Hennessy, aged 29, and Brandon Hennessy, aged 23, of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, and Kenneth Fitzsimons, aged 46, and his son Dean Fitzsimons, aged 26, of Castlecurragh Vale, Mulhuddart, Dublin, were originally charged with various offences, including causing serious harm and false imprisonment of Mr Moore, both of which carry potential life sentences.

After Mr Moore refused to give evidence last year, the State accepted pleas of guilty to assault causing harm, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Before it became apparent that Mr Moore was not going to give evidence, Devon Hennessy, aged 30, of Edgewood Lawns, Corduff, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning Mr Moore and to assisting a criminal organisation to inflict serious harm on Mr Moore.

Ms Justice O'Connor imposed the shortest sentence of three years on Devon Hennessy as, she said, he was the only one of the five who tried to intervene on Mr Moore's behalf. He was also the only one who entered an early guilty plea.

Ms Justice O'Connor said the offending of Jason Hennessy and Dean Fitzsimons warranted headline sentences at the maximum 10 years. In each case, she reduced that to eight-and-a-half years having considered their late guilty pleas and other mitigating factors.

Brandon Hennessy was given a six-year sentence. Picture: IrishPhotoDesk.ie

Brandon Hennessy would have received the same sentence but Ms Justice O'Connor said he is already serving a term that will expire in February 2028. She therefore imposed a six-year sentence which will run consecutive to that sentence.

Kenneth Fitzsimons was jailed for eight years. The judge noted that he did not use the branding iron or hold the victim down.

All sentences, except that imposed on Brandon Hennessy, are backdated to February 17, 2025, when they each went into custody on this charge.

At a previous hearing, Sgt Emma Ryan told the court that Mr Moore declined to give evidence at the trial for four of the defendants late last year "owing to the fact that he was afraid".