Dundalk Court: Suspended sentence for aggravated burglary

A man who broke into an apartment while carrying a knife, and made Xenophobic comments about the victim during his garda interview, has been given a three and a half year suspended sentence at Dundalk Circuit Court.

Sean Monaghan (34) with an address at Lennonstown Court, Dundalk admitted a charge of aggravated burglary at Mourne View Hall, Dublin Road, Dundalk on June 15th 2021 and obstructing a garda at Dundalk Garda Station in the execution of her duty.

The victim had woken up to find the defendant in his apartment, with blood on his face and when he asked him what he was doing, Sean Monaghan said “a Bulgarian lives here”. He looked for weed and left after being told there was none there.

The victim went after him after discovering his laptop was missing and three bottles of his aftershave were recovered from the defendant's pockets.  A knife was later found on a shelf beside the victim’s bed.

The court previously heard after his arrest at 3.20am, Sean Monaghan, made some offensive comments about the victim suggesting “he might leave this country and go back to another”.

In finalising the matter, Judge Dara Hayes said while the defendant had gone to the wrong apartment, he had broken in and stolen property while there.

He was homeless at the time, and had relapsed after seven years of sobriety over a family issue.

However, the judge said the defendant had expressed remorse for his behaviour, and while he was initially assessed as being at high risk of reoffending, he’s now considered at moderate risk, having addressed a number of previous risk factors through engaging with the Joint Agency Response to Crime (JARC) initiative.

He imposed a three and a half year sentence for the aggravated burglary and a concurrent 12 month sentence for the obstruction charge, but suspended both in full on the defendant entering a bond to be of good behaviour for three and a half years, subject to him placing himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months, and continuing to engage with the JARC programme.