Ransack of house was 'thuggery', judge says
THE ransacking of a house by a thief was "thuggery of the highest calibre", a judge has said.
Judge David McHugh was remarking in the case of John Hanley (23), who admitted breaking into the house.
Judge McHugh jailed him for nine months at Blanchardstown District Court.
Hanley, with an address at Dock Road, Limerick, pleaded guilty to burglary at St John's Drive, Clondalkin.
The court heard the defendant entered and exited the property via a side wall.
He used a screwdriver to prise open a window.
education
Once inside, he ransacked the house and took three silver rings, which were not recovered.
Hanley is married and has a young child, his lawyer said.
He is now serving another sentence and is in education as well as attending a psychiatrist in prison.
"In my view it is awful thuggery," Judge McHugh said. "To listen to it - it's a person's house, property was taken, it was ransacked. It is thuggery of the highest calibre.
"He accepts that, he doesn't wish to get into trouble again," Hanley's lawyer replied.
"It is a hope rather than an expectation, I imagine," Judge McHugh said.