A dangerous criminal has been handed a 12-year sentence for two brutal aggravated burglaries committed in the space of three days.
Jailing Niall Lynch at Downpatrick Crown Court, Judge Geoffrey Miller told the 37-year-old that his “cruel and utterly heartless actions” have left his four victims with untold emotional and psychological damage.
“One can only hope that somewhere in the depths of his soul there is some slight measure of genuine remorse, which will pray upon his conscience in the dark hours spent in the years he will spend in custody,” he said.
Lynch, with an address at Meadow Row, Castlewellan, pleaded guilty to charges arising from two shocking burglaries on February 19 and 22 2018.
The serial burglar, who has almost 140 convictions, admitted two counts of aggravated burglary, arson with intent to endanger life, wounding a male householder who was struck on the head with a hammer, aggravated vehicle theft causing damage, possessing a weapon, receiving stolen goods, going equipped for burglary and possessing class B Ephylone.
In the first burglary, a female cleaner was threatened with a club and tied up when Lynch and another man ransacked a house on School Road, Clough before setting fire to an adjacent room and leaving the terrified woman “to her fate”.
Two passers-by spotted the smoke and were able to raise the alarm but £120,000 of damage was caused.
Lynch's accomplice, 27-year-old Stephen Magennis of Downpatrick Road, Ardglass, was sentenced to eight years and four months for his involvement.
Referring to the woman's victim impact statement about her three hours of "torment and torture", Judge Miller said “rarely over 10 years on the bench have I read a more moving account of the devastating impact upon a victim of the cruel and utterly heartless actions of defendants”.
Three days later Lynch and two other men forced their way into a rural family home on the Castlewellan Road, Ballyward, kicked and punched a man in his sixties, hit him on the head with a hammer and threatened to stab his wife and autistic son, while ransacking the house searching for money.
“The defendant boiled a kettle of water and threatened to pour it over the woman’s face if they did not get the money. The man was dragged through the property as the search for money continued; he was kicked and punched throughout. The kettle of boiling water was thrown at him and some water came out of the spout burning his face and shoulder,” the judge said.
Eventually, the gang were directed to a safe where they stole £3,000 and a quantity of George Best five pound notes, binding the husband with tape and warning them to “stay put”.
In the early hours of the next day, a bar in Ardglass was broken into and among items taken was a rare Brandy bottle, optic bottles with upside down labels and an iPod.
Lynch and his accomplices, 32-year-old Alan William Stewart from Knockburn Gardens in Lisburn and Ruari Walls (29), of no fixed abode, were jailed for 10 and nine years respectively.
Judge Miller said it was clear that drink and drugs had featured heavily in Lynch's life, that he was under the influence of both during the offences.
He described him as a dangerous offender who poses a significant risk to the public and said it will be up to Parole Commissioners after he has served at least half his sentence in jail if he is safe to be released.
Speaking outside the court, the man who was attacked said the sentence “is not enough”.
"I’m more concerned about who will be the next ones. He is going to kill somebody some day,” he said.