Teen with 62 convictions jailed after entering family’s room with machete

Fiona Ferguson

A teenager has been jailed after entering a room occupied by a woman and young children in emergency homeless accommodation while carrying a three-foot machete.

Thomas Ormonde (19), who has 62 previous convictions, claimed he was carrying the machete for his own protection and had entered the room while fleeing from men who were chasing him.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard CCTV captured a muffled scream before a woman fled a room also occupied by her young children, followed by the teenager carrying a three-foot machete.

Ormonde, of St Joseph’s Way, Ballymun, pleaded guilty to trespass with a knife and possession of cocaine at Broomfield House, Drumcondra on December 7th, 2025.

He was on temporary release at the time of these offences and has been returned to custody to finish the sentence.

Ormonde was apprehended by residents of the homeless accommodation and gardai were called.

Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Dara Hayes said trespass with a knife through a room occupied by women and children was a serious offence and would have an adverse impact on them. He said the amount of cocaine found on Ormonde was also significant.

Judge Hayes said the court would have been inclined, given Ormonde’s age, to seek the assistance of the Probation Service but Ormonde had indicated he wished his sentence to be finalised immediately.

The judge imposed a sentence of two and half years and suspended the final six months on conditions. He said the suspended portion was to provide some incentive for rehabilitation.

The events occurred at Broomfield House, emergency homeless accommodation, in the grounds of the former Regency Hotel, now known as The Bonnington Hotel.

The centre houses 276 people of all nationalities, including children, in 40 apartments on behalf of Dublin City Council.

An investigating garda told Justin McQuade, prosecuting, that when gardaí arrived Ormonde was sitting on a chair with two residents of the accommodation.

He was covered in blood and gardaí initially made welfare inquiries to ensure he was not seriously injured.

The court heard Ormonde had entered Broomfield House, which had previously been interconnected to the hotel and was accessible through a fire escape, through an occupied room.

It came to the attention of two men residing there with their families that there was a man with a knife in the building. The machete was described as being three feet long.

The men took action and removed Ormonde, who had blood on his hands and tracksuit, to a bathroom area and took the knife from him. Ormonde had placed the knife inside his trousers after leaving the first room.

Gardaí searched Ormonde on their arrival and found cocaine, valued at €1,400, on him.

Ormonde was arrested and interviewed. He told gardaí he had gone to The Bonnington Hotel to meet a female and had the cocaine on him for a party. He had a hotel key card for a room.

He said once he entered Broomfield House, he was unfamiliar with the area and could not find a way out.

CCTV showed him entering the hotel and going into a lift. Two men follow him to the lift and prevent the door from closing. Ormonde produces the machete and the men step back.

The lift door closes and the CCTV next picks up Ormonde in Broomfield House.

A muffled scream is heard and a female exits the room, followed by Ormonde who places the machete down his trousers. He is then seen roaming the corridors before the residents bring him downstairs.

His 62 previous convictions include 20 for the misuse of drugs, eight for theft and public order offences.

The garda told the court that Ormonde is part of a grouping that is part of an ongoing feud.

There were no victim impact statements before the court.

The garda agreed with Keith Spencer, defending, that the blood was Ormonde’s own blood, no one else was injured and that Ormonde told gardaí he had come under attack which was why he entered the apartment.

The garda agreed he was generally co-operative and easy to deal with.

Spencer said Ormonde had family support and his mother had tried to keep him on the straight and narrow. He said his adolescence was blighted by a lack of education and the presence of drugs.

He said his client was still very young and hoped to carve out a path for himself in the future.