A man has been jailed for 16 years for beating to death an 83-year-old Co Westmeath man in the home where he lived alone.
Noel Cawley (48) of no fixed abode, but with a previous address in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, received a concurrent 12-year sentence for robbing Christy Hanley of about €10,000 at his house on Bridge Street, Kilbeggan on May 21st, 2008.
Cawley had tied up the well-known horse dealer, beating him around his head and body, before putting a coat over his head and leaving. The elderly man, who was known to carry large amounts of cash due to his dealings in horses, had received €10,000 in cash about 10 days before his death.
A Central Criminal Court jury found Cawley guilty of the manslaughter and robbery after a nine-cay trial in May. He had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Hanley, and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy reduced the murder charge to manslaughter, taking the
view that there was “a reasonable possibility that Cawley did not intend to cause serious harm.”
Mr Justice McCarthy noted that even if the robbery hadn’t resulted in death, it was of the utmost seriousness, with Mr Hanley having suffered multiple blows to his head, shoulders, arms and legs, and having his hands and feet tied. He choked to death on his own blood.
The judge said it was of significance that Mr Hanley had received the large amount of money in the days before the killing as Cawley was seen with an estimated €10,000 in cash hours after the killing while only one €5 note was found in the victim’s house.
He also said that the coat being thrown over the victim’s head gave the impression that Mr Hanley was already dead when the accused left.
However, he said that one factor that introduced some degree of humanity was that Cawley phoned gardai about 9am the next day to tell them Mr Hanley was tied up in his house. However he described this as “one modest mitigating factor” and pointed out that he had not co-operated with gardai.
In deciding on a sentence, he said it must be remembered that there was an element of premeditation and that death was caused by an intentional act. He said Cawley had extremely violent crimes in his record, including theft, burglary, larceny, malicious damage and attempted rape.
He backdated the sentence to June 24th, 2008, when Cawley was taken into custody.
Afterwards, Mr Hanley’s niece said she hoped his killer would rot in prison. “He tied up an old man and beat him to death and left him to die in his own home, where he felt safe,” said Breeda Harvey. “If you’re not safe in Kilbeggan, where are you safe?”
She said the family, who turned out in large numbers, was happy with the sentence. “It won’t bring Christy back, but at least he’s going to be locked up for a long time,” she said.