A convicted stalker who starved, imprisoned, assaulted and humiliated his sick elderly parents for almost six months was dubbed a “sadistic monster” by Judge Anthony Kennedy today.
“In my 40 years prosecuting, defending and judging cases of every sort I thought I had seen it all-well I haven’t,” Judge Kennedy told a sitting of Tullamore Circuit Court.
John Trimble(39) Bolart, Clara, Co Offaly admitted falsely imprisoning his parents, 70-year-old Elizabeth and 71-year-old John at the family home on dates between March 7th and March 12th, 2009.
He further admitted assaulting and endangering the couple by compelling them to take “cold showers and drip dry”, refusing food, clothing and medical attention on dates between March 1st and July 17th, 2009.
The couple's youngest son Damian read a victim impact statement from his parents. They thanked the HSE and Gardaí and said “we both live in a constant state of fear.”
They said they had been financially independent before the abuse but were now living on welfare and hand me downs.
Although they had been looking forward to living their “twilight years” in the local community, the couple now felt “isolated” and depend on their daughter checking on them daily at their accommodation outside Co Offaly.
“We both feel unable to trust people as we did before and are racked by guilt for not attending my sister’s funeral,” they said adding, “we are mindful that John is still a physical threat to us.”
Sentencing the man to 15 years in prison, Judge Kennedy said the case was “enough to leave anyone aghast at such evil.”
Describing him as a “sadistic monster”, Judge Kennedy said the man was “nearly wallowing in self pity”. The man was guilty of “obscenity of every kind and these weak defenceless parents with no escape”, he added.