An elderly man was left with nothing but his glasses, not even clothes to wear, after a burglar cleared out the apartment in Galway City he was staying at while he slept.
Shane Davis (28), with an address at Camilaun Park, Newcastle previously pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary before Galway Circuit Court.
The court heard that on August 29, 2019, Davis broke into an apartment at Westend Apartments on Dominick Street, where an elderly man was staying at the time.
Davis came before Galway Circuit Court again recently, but the court was not able to finalise sentencing as certain reports were not ready.
The court was also due to hear from the victim in this case, a 78 year old man who had travelled down from Mayo for the court date, and wanted to speak his piece despite the delay.
The court agreed to hear his victim impact statement, with defence barrister Conal McCarthy saying he had no objection.
“Everything, and I mean absolutely everything had been taken,” the man told the Circuit Court, adding that he had only his glasses left after the burglar cleared out the apartment.
He was forced to go outside naked in order to reach a neighbour who could contact the Gardaà for him, as he had no way to call them himself without a phone.
Davis was quickly identified as the perpetrator by Gardaà from CCTV footage, and they were fortunately able to recover all of the stolen property within three hours.
The victim said that he is okay now, but also that it would have been “pretty traumatic” of Gardaà hadn’t been able to get his property back.
When asked by the prosecution how he felt upon learning afterwards that Davis had been in his bedroom with a knife, the man said he was lucky to have been asleep at the time.
Mr Carthy told the victim that his client wished to apologise for his actions.
Judge Rory McCabe remanded Davis in custody, and adjourned the case to September 29 for final sentencing.
