Family relives Glasson house raid ordeal

The trial of an Athlone man accused of aggravated burglary at the home of businessman Damien Kilmartin in 2005 opened before Judge Miriam Reynolds at Mullingar Circuit Court sitting in Tullamore. The court heard that during the raid on the home of Mr Kilmartin, and his wife Rachel, one of the raiders held up a knife and told Rachel if she didn"t co-operate he would take one of her children. Brian McGinley (37), with an address at 7 Blackberry Lane, pleaded not guilty to aggravated burglary at Ladyswell, Glasson, on February 13, 2005. A jury of seven men and five women were sworn in yesterday morning and the case got underway yesterday afternoon. Opening the case for the prosecution, barrister John Hayden, BL, said it was alleged that the defendant was one of four males who entered the Kilmartin family home at Ladyswell at some stage between 8.25pm and 8.30pm on the day in question. The dogs became restless and as Mr Kilmartin went out to check on them, four raiders wearing balaclavas came into the house. Damien and Rachel Kilmartin"s three children Matthew, who was 15 at the time, Luke, who was ten, and Daniel, who was nine, and a cousin of theirs Rebekka Duffy, who was 14 at the time, were in the house, Mr Hayden told the court. Two of the men went upstairs to the children and brought them downstairs. Mr Hayden told the court Mr Kilmartin"s BMW 645 and his wife"s BMW jeep were stolen after the raid and both were recovered later, the jeep burnt out. He said Mrs Kilmartin and the four children were put into the bathroom and Damien"s father Tony, who arrived during the raid, was also put into the bathroom with them. He managed to hold onto his mobile phone, although the phones of the others were taken, and this was later used to contact the Gardai. Mr Hayden told the court one of the raiders had suffered a blood injury and blood was found on the boot lid of the BMW 645. He explained that Mr McGinley presented himself at Athlone Garda Station on July 18 2005 and spoke to Insp Jim Delaney, who was a detective sergeant at the time, and during interrogation a hair sample was taken and DNA from this sample matched the DNA from the blood. State witness Rebekka Duffy told the court she had been at the circus with her cousins that day and they had been back at the house for an hour or two listening to music in Matthew"s bedroom. They heard the dogs barking and shortly afterwards two men wearing balaclavas entered the bedroom. One of them was armed with a sledge hammer. She told the court one of the men came over and slammed his sledge hammer on the bed and told them to get downstairs. When they got down to the kitchen there were two other men and they were arguing with Damien about the takings from his shop. Ms Duffy said they were told to go under a breakfast bar and at this stage the raiders were demanding that Damien bring them up to the safe. She told the court that the raiders told Damien if he didn"t give them money they were going to take his kids. She explained that one of the children had celebrated a birthday recently and there was a cake and knife on the kitchen table. One of the raiders held the knife to Luke"s throat, she told the court. The children and Mrs Kilmartin were then taken to the bathroom and were there for about 45 minutes. She said one of the men came down with a baseball bat and swung it near her face and near Matthew"s face. Ms Duffy told the court Tony Kilmartin then arrived at the house and they could see him outside the door and were screaming and telling him to get away, but he was grabbed and dragged into the bathroom. She explained that Tony had heart problems and his heart started playing up. Ms Duffy told the court she thought the man guarding them was starting to panic as Tony couldn"t breathe at that stage. The raiders then tied their hands with cable ties and brought Damien down to the bathroom and also tied his hands. They had taken ties from Damien"s wardrobe and used these to tie their legs, Ms Duffy told the court. She said Damien warned them they would hear a loud bang as he knew the raiders were taking the safe and were going to throw it down the stairs. She told the court the circulation had gone in Damien"s hands but despite this he managed to break the cable ties and phoned the Gardai using his father"s phone, which he had managed to hold on to by telling the raiders he had left it in the car. The Gardai arrived within ten minutes. Under cross examination Ms Duffy was asked why she hadn"t mentioned the knife being held to Luke"s throat in a statement she made to Gardai the day after the incident. She broke down crying and said she had been very upset and traumatised the next day. Giving evidence to the court Rachel Kilmartin said she and Damien had been sitting watching TV having a glass of wine when the raiders came into the house. They asked if anyone else was in the house and they told them about the children. She told the court the raiders told them to kneel on the floor and the children were then brought downstairs and were very upset. Ms Kilmartin said one of the raiders had a baseball bat and they were aggressive and wanted to know where they had their money. She said they were all dressed in dark clothes and all had something covering their faces. She explained that two of the men were taller than the other two and she was concerned about the children. Ms Kilmartin told the court one of the raiders held up the knife that had been on the kitchen table and told her if she didn"t co-operate he was going to take one of her children. The case continues at Mullingar Circuit Court, sitting in Tullamore, before Judge Miriam Reynolds today (Wednesday).