A MAN HAS been jailed for 16 years for beating to death an elderly Westmeath man in the home where he lived alone.
Noel Cawley (48), no fixed abode but with a previous address in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, received a concurrent 12-year sentence for robbing Christy Hanley (83) of about €10,000 at his house on Bridge Street, Kilbeggan, on May 21st, 2008.
Cawley had tied up the well-known horse dealer, beating him around his head and body, before putting a coat over his head and leaving. The elderly man, who was known to carry large amounts of money due to his dealings in horses, had received €10,000 in cash about 10 days before his death.
A Central Criminal Court jury found Cawley guilty of the manslaughter and robbery after a nine- day trial in May. He had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Hanley, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy reduced the murder charge to manslaughter, taking the view that there was “a reasonable possibility that Cawley did not intend to cause serious harm”.
Mr Justice McCarthy noted that even if the robbery hadn’t resulted in death, it was of the utmost seriousness, with Mr Hanley having suffered multiple blows to his head, shoulders, arms and legs, and having his hands and feet tied. He choked to death on his own blood.
“The violence was very significant. The head, face and body were beaten, but mostly the upper torso, head and face,” the judge said. “He was tied up. A coat was thrown over his head, giving the inference that he was dead when the accused left.”
A postmortem showed that Mr Hanley died from asphyxia and might have had a heart attack. “He choked on blood from his nose,” noted the judge.
Mr Justice McCarthy said Mr Hanley had received a large amount of money in the days before the killing as Cawley was seen with an estimated €10,000 in cash hours after the killing, while only one €5 note was found in the victim’s house.
“This is of significance because the accused was later seen with large amounts of cash,” the judge added, recalling that one witness had estimated the amount to be about €10,000.
“In the presence of the accused, Mr Hanley changed €400 in coinage for notes. CCTV footage and witnesses put the accused in the town [Kilbeggan] on the day. He admitted he was there,” the judge noted. “It appears the accused and the deceased were drinking together, although Mr Hanley was not drinking alcohol at all.”
The judge noted that Cawley made his escape by hitching as far as Mullingar and that he lied to the people who gave him lifts. “We don’t know how he got to Dublin, but know he was desperate for a change of clothes.”
The trial heard that he offered a man on the street in Mullingar €100 if he could get someone to open a clothes shop for him.
“This man is an appalling criminal. He has convictions for substantive offences from the age of 17,” noted the judge. At one stage he was imprisoned for five years by a court in Galway for several counts of larceny.
“He was released after two years,” he noted. “He cannot have been long at liberty when he attempted rape. There are extremely violent crimes in his record.”
However, the judge said it was important to give any prisoner light at the end of the tunnel. “He is 48 years old. The door can’t be shut on him,” he said.
One factor that introduced some degree of humanity was that Cawley phoned gardaí at about 9am the next day to tell them Mr Hanley was tied up in his house. However, he described this as “one modest mitigating factor” and pointed out that he had not co-operated with gardaí.
He said it must be remembered that there was an element of premeditation and that death was caused by an intentional act.
Afterwards, Mr Hanley’s niece said she hoped his killer would rot in prison. Breeda Harvey said: “He tied up an old man and beat him to death and left him to die in his own home, where he felt safe.”