Tag Archives: crime

Gardaí in Ennis investigating the armed robbery of a shop in Ennis last night (Sunday) are now hunting for a man in his early 20s. The incident occurred at around 10.19pm on Sunday, when a man entered Hogans shop at Claureen, on the Lahinch Road brandishing what appeared to be a short firearm. He intimidated the staff and made them hand over the contents of the till before fleeing on foot in the direction of Shanaway Road. The man is described as in his early 20s and was wearing a black leather jacket, gloves and a dark hoodie. At the time of the robbery he had the hood up, and used a white scarf to hide his face. He is also believed to have been wearing dark jeans, dark shoes with a white trim at the bottom of the shoes, and he is understood to have spoken with an Eastern European accent. Anyone who may have seen a man matching …

GARDAÍ were evacuated from Ennis Garda Station for four hours this Monday morning after a live grenade found during renovation works was brought to the public office of the station. The old grenade was unearthed by workmen at a house in McNamara Park on Monday morning. They picked up the device and it was brought to Ennis Garda Station at approximately 10am. Superintendent Brendan McDonagh of Ennis Garda Station explained that “Workmen working on doing up an old house in the McNamara Park area of Ennis came across this old grenade. It was buried and while they were doing the work they unearthed this grenade. It was very old so they decided to pick it up and bring it into us here in Ennis Garda Station, which was very nice of them”. “The garda in the public office got some shock. He would have got a bigger shock if it had gone off,” he added. The grenade, which was established …

A JURY has returned a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity in the trial of a County Kerry man accused of holding three people hostage at gunpoint at a Sixmilebridge residence last year. Thomas Howard (50) of Gortnaminch, Listowel pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to having a shotgun in his possession with intent to cause robbery, three counts of false imprisonment of a father, daughter and her fiancé and two counts of robbery on July 2, 2015 at Donnybrook Cottage, Sixmilebridge. He also pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to an eighth count, which was the theft of an over and under double-barrel shotgun from a property in County Limerick on a date unknown between June 29, 2015 and July 2, 2015. Detective Garda Roddy Burke told Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday that matters unfolded at 4.45pm on July 2 last, when a lone male armed with a double-barrel shotgun, wearing a balaclava and dressed in dark clothes, approached Tadhg …

Following the publication today (Friday) of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) third Quarterly Household Survey, householders are being urged to remain on their guard in the run up to the Christmas period. In the 12 month period up to the end of September 2015, 28,407 burglary and related offences were recorded nationwide (CSO 2015). Of these burglaries 386 were recorded in the Clare Garda Division, an increase of 42 in the previous 12 month period (CSO 2015). Commenting on the number of burglaries, PhoneWatch managing director, Eoin Dunne said, “The annual statistics serve as an important reminder to us all about the importance of protecting our homes. The steady continuance in burglary and related offences is truly alarming and indicates that the level of burglary has not decreased as the economy improves. We are urging all householders to remain vigilant, especially in the run up to Christmas, which is peak season for opportunist burglars.” According to data released by PhoneWatch’s Alarm Receiving Centre, burglars …

THE prisoner who escaped from Ennis Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon is still at large more than 24 hours later. Jason Freyne, a 22-year-old man from Carew Park in Limerick, appeared before Judge Patrck Durcan on Wednesday, where he accepted he had stolen a car in April and that he was also guilty of other related charges. He was already serving a sentence prior to his appearance before Judge Durcan, who adjourned the matter until Thursday but within hours, Mr Freyne had absconded. Shortly before 5pm on Thursday, gardaí confirmed that he has not been apprehended and the search for him continues.

A “MASSIVE improvement” in Kilrush is one of the things Clare’s highest ranking garda is most proud of, he revealed recently. “I came to Clare in 2007 and in those years there didn’t seem to be anything but bad publicity about Kilrush and incidents happening there,” Chief Superintendent John Kerin stated. “Certainly, I think if people look at the crime statistics and the occurrences there over the last three years, there has been a massive reduction in incidents of crime and disorder,” he added. “Now don’t get me wrong, there are still nasty enough incidents occurring but the amount of crime as shown in the statistics for 2014 and the first four months of this year would indicate that things have improved massively,” he said. From January to April this year, there were a total of four burglaries, two thefts from vehicles, five incidents of other thefts and 11 reports of criminal damage in Kilrush. The number of burglaries there …

THE economic downturn and consequent emigration have resulted in a dramatic drop in certain types of crimes over the past six years, Clare’s most senior garda has claimed. According to crime statistics outlined at a recent meeting of the West Clare Municipal District, reported incidents of damage to property and the environment more than halved between 2008 and 2014, going from 934 down to 395 last year. Public order and other social code offences also dropped significantly over the same period, going from 1,456 reported in 2008 to 765 over the course of 2014. “These are often late at night, drink-fuelled, stupid acts of criminal damage. There is no doubt that CCTV in towns like Kilrush and Ennis have also impacted that, but we have to accept that the downturn in the economy and the subsequent emigration have had a positive impact on these figures, one of the only things it has had a positive impact on really,” Garda Chief …

TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace have vowed not to pay €2,000 fines imposed on them at Ennis District Court this evening, after Judge Patrick Durcan found them guilty of offences at Shannon Airport last summer. Asked is she would pay the monies Deputy Daly replied “absolutely not” while the Wexford man replied “You know what, I wouldn’t pay that fine to save my life.” They also say they will not appeal the convictions. The TDs faced charges of climbing a perimeter fence at Shannon Airport and entering a part of the airport to which they were not permitted on July 22 of last year, contrary to the Airport Byelaws of 1994. Ms Daly said that the two TDs will continue to be active in the campaign against the US military use of Shannon. “Of course we will, yeah. We will absolutely continue in this and we have not intention of paying a financial contribution to a State that allow …