Louth man attacked his victim with a baseball bat and a hammer

A Drogheda man who was involved in a baseball bat attack on a man before returning and assaulting him with a glass hammer,  has been jailed at Dundalk Circuit Court.

Wayne Kavanagh (27) of Rathmullen Park, Drogheda pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and causing criminal damage at an address in Ballsgrove and was also sentenced for a robbery and falsely imprisoning a member of staff at Victory’s Centra, Main Street, Dunleer.

The victim in the first case was woken by loud banging from downstairs around 3.10am on February 4th 2020 and ran down to see two men in the shadows who swung at him with a baseball bat.

He also had a bat and picked it up and swung it at the pair who ran off before returning 10 minutes later as he tried to close the gate.

They both began swinging weapons at him and Wayne Kavanagh was armed with a glass hammer. The victim and his partner were in fear of their lives and he sustained lacerations and swelling to both of his hands.

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Just over two months later, a man who was working in Centra in Dunleer opened the back door around 5.40am to find two men standing inside, who it's believed had gained entry when bread was being delivered. Both had Stanley knives, and they asked where the safe was. When he said he didn’t know the other man allegedly threatened to slash his face.

They stole €25 worth of beer and eight packs of cigarettes along with a charity box which was raising funds for someone who required surgery for a rare form of cancer.

The defendant, who had 39 previous convictions, was jailed for seven and a half years in December 2022 for burglary, aggravated burglary, robbery and possession of a shotgun.

The Senior Defence counsel said his client had been on a residential treatment programme until his mother died in 2021.  

Judge Dara Hayes imposed sentences totalling three years with the final two suspended for the Ballsgrove offences and four years for the Dunleer offences, with the final three suspended, both concurrent.

That amounts to 12 months in addition to the lengthy sentence currently being served.