Serial burglar who robbed elderly woman during lockdown spree is back on the streets

Sunday World

2 days ago

Heroin addict Anthony Horgan (46), of no fixed abode, was jailed by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in April 2021
A serial burglar who posed as a garda while ransacking a lonely pensioner's home during the Covid-19 pandemic is back on the streets after he hobbled freed from prison on crutches.
Career criminal Anthony Horgan (49) made his way out the gates of the Midlands Prison on Thursday last week after serving four years of a six-year sentence handed down to him in 2021 for breaking into the home of an 83-year-old woman.
Heroin addict Horgan (46), of no fixed abode, was jailed by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in April 2021 after he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated burglary and five counts of burglary.
Horgan's bat-wielding co-accused, Christopher Jones, received a four-year term for his role in the crime spree in Cork city, which took place on April 16-17, 2020, during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
Jones later had his sentenced increased by one year after the DPP successfully argued that the original custodial term had been unduly lenient.
The DPP then appealed the length of Horgan's term on the same grounds and his sentence too was increased by a period of 12 months.
Horgan has 88 previous convictions. Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard evidence from Det Garda Joe Young who said that Mr Horgan, and his co accused who had previously been sentenced before the court, popped door locks in the middle of the night.
In one house they encountered a woman who woke having heard noise. They told the old lady that they were gardai and were checking out reports of burglaries in the area.
The men asked the householder where she kept her money in order to check if it was still there. They then robbed €2,500 in cash and £80 sterling from her. They also took a confirmation card which the pensioner had written which contained another €200 in cash.
Dt Sgt Young said the pensioner had been cocooning when she encountered the robbers who were in and out of her house within four minutes shortly after 4am on April 17, 2020.
The pair had started their spree shortly before 2am on the night when they broke in to the house of a married couple on High Street and stole bank cards. They used the cards to make purchases at a Spar shop.
Shortly before 4am they broke in to a house in Frankfield villas, where a couple lived with their one-year-old child. They left with coins.
Having left this house the thieves broke in to the property next door, but they fled when a man woke and asked them what they were doing. They also broke in to a house in Tower Street.
Then, shortly after 4am, they entered the house of the 83-year-old in Tyrone Place.
Both men were arrested 12 hours after they broke in to the house of the elderly lady.
Anthony Horgan had 88 previous convictions when he appeared in court
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Gardai recovered €1,600 in cash which the men had given to a third party in order to keep it safe. A small amount of cash was recovered on the pair when they were arrested.
Previously, on April 9, 2020 the men had broken in to a house in Great William O'Brien Street in Cork city. Armed with a baseball bat, the men stole a wallet which one of the householders recovered after he chased the robbers.
Defence barrister, Alison McCarthy, said her client identified himself to gardai on CCTV when arrested for questioning. She emphasised that he used no violence in the course of the robberies.
She said Mr Horgan was a lifelong drug addict who started offending in his twenties when he became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine.
Ms McCarthy emphasised that her client hailed from a respectable family and would have lived a regular life only for his drug addiction.
She said that Horgan had stayed out of trouble for a period when he lived in Midleton. However, his problems had re-emerged when he moved back to Cork city.
Ms McCarthy attempted to give Judge Sean O Donnabháin a letter from a doctor detailing Mr Horgan's vulnerabilities.
However, the judge said that 'everybody was willing to write a letter' and that he would only listen to the evidence if the doctor appeared in court to present it.
Judge O Donnabhain said the crime spree carried out by Horgan and his co accused was 'chaotic' and seemed to lack pre-planning.
Aggravating factors included that the 'escapade' happened during lockdown in occupied houses. He said that the men had 'fronted the lady in the house saying they were guards and stealing from her.'
The judge stated that Horgan had the presence of mind to stash the monies stolen with a third party.
He added that Horgan seemed 'predisposed to this type of offence' and had no prospect of rehabilitation.