Home intruder sat on toilet listening to religious sermon and later assaulted garda
Olivia Kelleher
An intruder who made his way in to the home of a pensioner and sat on his bathroom toilet listening to a televangelical sermon before telling the owner “God sent me” has been jailed for four months.
Trevor Morey, of no fixed abode, also assaulted a garda who was called to the scene at Carrigrohane in Ballincollig, Co Cork, on April 5th this year.
Cork District Court heard that Mr Morey (38) had been cycling around the area on the date of the offence. He stumbled across the home of a 75-year-old man and managed to get in to the property.
In a victim impact statement the homeowner told Judge Mary Dorgan that the whole episode was "bizarre."
“I heard a burst of loud music and realised it was coming from inside the house. I went up the stairs and to my absolute incredulity discovered this man sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, staring at arm’s length at his phone and concentrating on what sounded like a sermon from one of the quasi-biblical stations that broadcast in the Cork area.
“I roared, ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ He was sideways on to me and made no move to a defensive posture but said in a matter of fact voice, ‘God sent me,’ and resumed his focus on his phone.
“It was weirdly disconcerting as opposed to frightening. He clearly viewed me as a mildly irritating distraction from the serious phone business. Having given me the perfunctory answer the audience was now over.”
The householder said that he went downstairs, quietened his dogs, made a cup of tea and tried to decide on his next move.
“After a few minutes I went up again and asked him, ‘How would you feel if I call the guards?’ He considered me for a few seconds but didn’t seem to register the question and then went back to the phone. He didn’t respond. I went downstairs and rang the emergency number.
“No attempt had been made to steal any items. No aggressive words or actions were perpetrated by the individual to me.
“I subsequently noticed that I had left a claw-hammer among some other tools on a windowsill at the top of the stairs, which might have been availed of by someone with violence in mind. He would have passed this and ignored it en route to the bathroom. All in all, I was at the time and still remain convinced that he was not compos mentis on the night.”
Defence solicitor Frank Buttimer said his client had mental health issues. Both Mr Buttimer and Judge Dorgan commended the householder for writing one of the most extraordinarily fair victim impact statements they had ever seen. Judge Dorgan also thanked the victim for his “measured” statement.
The householder was not named in open court. However, Judge Dorgan read out sections of his statement. In his statement he praised the professionalism of gardaí who arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, Det Garda Alan Johnson said that when Garda Declan O’Dwyer arrived at the scene he was assaulted by Mr Morey.
Mr Morey previously pleaded guilty to a charge of trespassing at the home of the elderly man and assaulting the attending garda.
A burglary charge was dropped and replaced with the trespass count as there was nothing to suggest there was any intention on the behalf of Mr Morey to steal items from the property.
Judge Dorgan jailed Mr Morey for five months suspending the last month of the sentence and backdating the sentence to April 7th when he first entered custody. Upon his release from custody he will enter in to a probation bond for a period of 18 months.
Mr Morey was ordered to stay away from both the injured party and his property upon his release from prison. He also has to engage with the probation service, mental health services and with his own GP.
