A Westmeath man who threatened to kill a pregnant woman, her husband and their children after forcing his way into their home to steal a car has been jailed for four years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The court heard that Conor Casey of Glenview Heights, Mullingar, is currently serving a three-year sentence for another robbery.
Casey, 25, pleaded guilty to robbing a Lexus car in September 2007 at an address in Lucan, Dublin, and also admitted burning out the car the following morning in Mullingar.
Gardaí earlier told the court that the crime was not reported by the victims because they feared for their lives.
A victim impact statement to the court indicated that the family had since built a safe room in which they could put their children if anything like this happened again.
Judge Patricia Ryan imposed a four-year sentence, with 18 months suspended on the main charge of aggravated burglary, and another two-year sentence on other charges.
They will run concurrently with the sentence Casey is already serving.
The court heard that Casey told gardaí he was ashamed of his actions.
