Man sentenced to six years for burglary at singer Mary Coughlan’s home

Blues singer Mary Coughlan was “fortunate to be with two able-bodied men” when she interrupted a burglary at her home in Wicklow two years ago, a judge has observed.

The comments were made by Judge Patrick Quinn as he sentenced a Wicklow man, Darren Carton, to five years in prison for the burglary of the well-known performer’s home at Barchuilla Commons, Kilmacanogue on January 9, 2021.

Carton (42) of Carraigoona Close, Kilmacanogoue, Co Wicklow was found guilty of the burglary following a seven-day jury trial at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in December.

The accused, who was described by the judge as a chronic drug user, was also convicted of €4,000 worth of criminal damage to a sliding door at Ms Coughlan’s house on the same date.

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Carton was acquitted of a separate charge of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Ms Coughlan’s son-in-law, Ciarán Farrelly, when he attempted to stop the accused from escaping from the scene.

The trial heard evidence that Ms Coughlan was warned by her son-in-law that an intruder had a knife as she arrived back  with her partner,  John Kelly, to find a burglary in progress at her Wicklow home.

The singer, who was not required to attend court to give evidence, described in a witness statement how Mr Kelly and Mr Farrelly, who lived in an adjoining property, had attempted to catch Carton after they found him leaving one of the properties. The accused managed to escape following a brief struggle.

The trial heard that Mr Farrelly had taken a video of the intruder with his phone and was driving in Kilmacanogue on the day after the incident when he noticed a man at a bus stop on the N11 who was wearing the same trousers and trainers as the burglar whom he also recorded.

Detective Garda David McHugh told a sentencing hearing on Tuesday that Carton was identified from the images captured on Mr Farrelly’s phone, while one of his fingerprints was also found on a parked vehicle.

The court heard Carton, who comes originally from Bray, Co Wicklow but has little or no contact with his family, has 84 previous convictions including 25 for burglary offences.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Farrelly criticised Carton for showing no remorse at any stage during the trial and claimed his family and the whole community of Kilmacanogue would be relieved he would be “gone.”

Counsel for Carton, Justin McQuaide BL, said a not insignificant amount of Carton’s offending was linked to his need for money to feed a chronic drug addiction.

Sentencing Carton to six years in prison, the judge suspended the final year on condition he does not come to the attention of gardaí for 12 months after his release.

He also sentenced the accused to 12 months for the criminal damage to Ms Coughlan’s home to run currently.

Judge Quinn backdated the sentence after being informed that Carton had already spent over 18 months in custody in relation to the offences.

The judge observed that he would have been “far more generous” if Carton had pleaded guilty to the charge.