A Killarney man has been jailed for five years for violent disorder, deception and criminal damage charges.
49-year-old Denis Harrington of 99 Ballyspillane Killarney appeared before Judge Ronan Munro at Tralee Circuit Court for sentencing.
He had pleaded guilty to deceiving pensioners out of over €93,000, and more than €70,000 worth of criminal damage in the same incident; and violent disorder in relation to a separate incident.
Outlining the evidence in the case, Judge Ronan Munro said the violent disorder charge was in relation to an incident in Ballyspillane, Killarney on Christmas Day 2020.
The judge heard that Denis Harington had a weapon during the incident, but did not use it in the attack, however, he struck a pensioner in her home, while her two adult children with special needs were in the house.
A headline sentence of two years was imposed, but the Judge considered the guilty plea and that peace has broken out from this feud since the incident.
He sentenced him to six months in prison for the charge, noting it was a very lenient sentence.
Judge Munro reflected on the evidence in the separate incident, whereby Denis Harrington scammed a retired couple out of over €93,000 in cash.
Mr Harrington persuaded them that there were major problems with the roof of their home in Crumlin, Co. Dublin and a rat infestation issue.
Judge Munro stated not only did he swindle them out of money, he effectively butchered their house, causing a further €75,000 in damage and destablising the structure of the home.
He said it was hard to fathom how someone could do this to pensioners and noted one victims statement - that she worked hard for over 40 years of her life and her lump sum was gone in 6 days.
He took into account Mr Harrington’s guilty plea, and that he repaid €5,000; he stated there was talk about selling a property in Mayo to repay the losses, but this has been abandoned and it's likely the money won’t be repaid.
Judge Munro jailed him for 3 years on the deception count.
Denis Harrington was sentenced to 4 and a half years for criminal damage, with the last two and a half years suspended, subject to keeping the peace and being of good behaviour for 5 years upon release.
The sentence was backdated to November 26th when Mr Harrington went into custody.
The judge ordered the three sentences to run consecutively, meaning Mr Harrington received a total sentence of five years in prison.
