A GALWAY city man who was shot during a "savage" attack on an elderly man whose home he and two others broke into has been jailed for four years.
Kevin Curran (22), of Castle Park, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary at the home of Mr Patrick Duggan (76), at Kiltrogue, Claregalway, Co Galway, on December 13th, 1996.
Curran asked for Mr Duggan's forgiveness before shaking hands with him after being sentenced by Judge Kevin Haugh at Galway Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.
The court heard Mr Duggan, who lives alone and has used a crutch for the past 10 years, said he is still nervous and has had difficulty sleeping since the incident.
He told the court he reached for a shotgun beside his bed when he was awakened by the sound of glass breaking in his front door. A man wearing a balaclava burst into his room and turned on the light. He shouted at Mr Duggan to leave the shotgun down before running into the kitchen.
The intruder then returned with a glass pitcher which he flung at the victim. It smashed on the wall behind him.
The man then ran back to the kitchen again and returned with a saucepan which he flung at a glass case in the room.
At this stage, Mr Duggan said he discharged a shot from his gun as he was very frightened and the men fled the house.
Det Sgt P.J. Durkin said that following the break in, during which the defendant was hit by six pellets around the eye, the three men returned to Galway. The other two men left Curran at the casualty unit of University College Hospital before driving away.
Gardai were called to the hospital, where Curran told them what had happened and showed concern for Mr Duggan's welfare. Gardai went to the house where they found Mr Duggan in a distressed state.
Curran admitted he had been involved in the raid but he told gardai he had not known the other two men well.
However, Det Sgt Durkin said gardai believed the defendant knew his accomplices well. He had admitted telling them about Mr Duggan and he had directed them to his house.
The court heard Curran was losing the sight in his left eye following the gunshot wound and eventually would have to be fitted with a glass eye.
There was also a slight chance the problem would spread to his other eye.
On the night of the breakin, Curran had taken both drink and drugs and he said he could not remember much about it until the next day in hospital.
Judge Haugh described the offence as "savage". Curran had led two other people to an elderly man's house and launched a horrific attack on him.
The judge described Mr Duggan as a "soft target" and said the seriousness of the case deserved a prison sentence which would serve to act as a deterrent in these types of crimes against the elderly living alone in rural areas.
There were, however, a number of mitigating circumstance in the case, the judge added: the obvious remorse expressed by Curran towards the victim, and the fact that Curran would lose the sight in one eye.