Three men who killed Tom Niland sentenced to combined 43 years in prison

Eoin Reynolds

Three men who "brutally" assaulted Tom Niland, a vulnerable pensioner who they beat to death in his own home, have been sentenced to a combined 43 years in prison.

Sentencing the men on Thursday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the victim was a kind man who was entitled to feel comfortable and secure in his own home.

The judge described the unlawful killing as "savage" and he noted that the killers had carried out reconnaissance on Mr Niland and targeted him because he lived alone and, as a man in his 70s, they "fully understood" that he could be easily overcome.

John Irving (31) of Shanwar, Foxford, Co Mayo; Francis Harman (58) of Nephin Court, Killala Road, Ballina Co Mayo; and John Clarke (37) of Carrowkelly, Ballina all pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year.

They attacked Mr Niland at his home at Doonflynn, Skryne, Co Sligo on January 18th 2022 and took his wallet, containing about €800.

After the assault, the three men drove to a wilderness area where they disposed of the wallet and gloves containing DNA evidence that later linked them to the crime.

They then drove to Ballina to settle a bill at Casey's Garage where they had been unable to pay when they filled up at the same station hours earlier.

Mr Niland, meanwhile, managed to cross the road and alerted neighbours despite having suffered brain injuries, a fracture to his eye socket and multiple rib fractures.

An ambulance took him to Sligo General Hospital where he initially seemed to improve before his condition deteriorated.

He was put on life support but died from his injuries about 20 months later.

Mr Justice McDermott sentenced Irving to 16 years in prison with the final year suspended for two years. Irving has 57 previous convictions, including those for violent burglaries targeting the elderly, theft, arson, criminal damage and endangerment.

He sentenced Clarke and Harman to 15 years with the final year suspended. Each defendant must engage with probation services on their release or they face serving the suspended portion of their sentences.

Following the sentencing hearing, Mr Niland's family members and friends hugged one another and shook hands with gardaí and prosecutors.

Outside court, Mr Niland's cousin Michael Walsh thanked gardaí and prosecutors for their "commitment, kindness, professionalism and constant availability to answer our questions."

He further thanked the staff at Sligo University Hospital and the "wonderful friends and neighbours who gave up their time and effort to search for evidence on the roads and ditches for 20 kilometres in the worst possible weather that year."

At the start of Thursday's hearing, Justice McDermott described Mr Niland as "the most central and important person in this case." His life, the judge said, should be defined not by how he died, but by how he lived.

He was "warmly and fondly regarded by those who loved him," the judge said, noting the many kindnesses he visited on others and how he engaged in the daily lives of his family and community who miss him now he is not there.

The suffering he endured for 20 months after the assault was shared by his family, who "witnessed the devastation and were themselves traumatised and upset by what they saw and what they lived through during his last days."

Immediately after the "terrifying" assault, Mr Niland was "brave enough" to give gardai an account of what happened, despite his injuries.

His account has a "starkness and simplicity to it," the judge said.

He recalled watching the news on RTÉ at 6 o'clock, followed by the weather and the Angelus. Emmerdale was just beginning when he heard a knock at the door which he answered.

Immediately on opening the door, three men with their faces covered grabbed him and pushed him backwards, roaring and shouting: "Where is the money, we know you have money."

Mr Niland told them he had no money and tried to grab one of them but was punched in the face by all three. He fell to the ground and the three kept kicking and punching him where he lay.

He felt he must have fainted for a time and when he awoke he couldn't walk because his laces had been tied together. He finished by saying: "They gave me an awful doing."

The court heard that Irving has 57 previous convictions, including those for violent burglaries targeting the elderly, theft, arson, criminal damage and endangerment.

Clarke has 22 previous convictions, including one for theft and one for a drug offence.

The remaining 20 relate to road traffic offences. Harman has 27 previous convictions including six for theft, five for drug offences, and one each for burglary, endangerment, criminal damage and a threat to kill.

In Irving's case, Mr McDermott noted that this offence has "many attributes" of the previous robbery for which he was convicted in which an elderly man living alone awoke to a break-in and was assaulted.

In that case Irving accepted that he was at the scene but denied being in the house.

Mr Justice McDermott also considered a psychological report which stated that Irving has ADHD and has been consuming alcohol and cannabis since the age of 12.

All three have apologised and expressed remorse for what they did, the judge said.

Mr Justice McDermott set the headline sentence for each defendant at 20 years but, after considering their guilty pleas and other mitigating factors, he reduced each sentence accordingly.

Each sentence was backdated to when the men went into custody charged with assaulting Mr Niland. All three were initially charged with causing serious harm.

The charges were later upgraded to murder when Mr Niland died but the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted manslaughter pleas from Clarke and Harman on July 7th this year and reduced the charge against Irving to Manslaughter.

Irving initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea six days into his trial.