A 34-year-old Dublin man, who terrorised elderly people during robberies at their homes, has been jailed for ten years.
Anthony Connors of Tulip Court in Darndale, Dublin, pleaded guilty to stealing from 13 elderly people and the attempted robbery of another on dates in 2007 and 2008.
Judge Katherine Delahunt imposed consecutive sentences on some of the offences because they were committed while on bail.
The sentences ranged from six months to seven years on various offences, including aggravated burglary and assault.
At the time of the offences, Connors had just been released from prison having served a sentence for a string of similar offences.
Judge Delahunt said the victim impact statement from elderly people made difficult and tragic reading and she noted that one victim was still too traumatised to give a victim impact statement.
She said there was a distressing similarity to the crimes and noted examples where Anthony Connors had threatened to break the neck of a 71-year-old man, threatened to stay all night and kill an 80-year-old woman, and held a knife to the chest of a 67-year-old man.
At the sentence hearing last month, in one victim impact statement an 81-year-old woman said she now lives like a hermit in her home and is afraid to open her door to anyone.
She said she still has nightmares after Anthony Connors forced his way into her home, pinned her down and held a cushion over her face before taking €2,100.
Others reported having recurring nightmares and being afraid to go out. Two have since died, one from a terminal illness.
In most incidents he forced his way into the homes of elderly people, pushed them to the ground and threatened them while demanding money.
Some were threatened with a knife or a scissors while being dragged around their house to look for money.
Others were locked into their bedrooms and bathrooms while he searched their homes.
He told one 80-year-old woman that he would stay at her house all night and would kill her if she did not give him money.
In other cases he put sunglasses on his victims or removed their own glasses so they could not see properly. Others were slapped and kicked during the attacks.
Defence counsel Luigi Rea told the court his client was a drug addict who engaged in opportunistic offences and later showed remorse.
He said he apologised to his victims.
The court was told that the father of two had 28 previous convictions, mainly for similar offences.
He had spent time in an institution as a child and had unpleasant experiences.
While having a severe physical addiction to drugs, there were also psychological problems because of his rapid return to drugs when he got out of prison, he said.
