Kilmartin burglary accused goes on trial

A Westmeath man has gone on trial charged with aggravated burglary at the home of a prominent Athlone businessman in February 2005. Brian McGinley, Blackberry Lane, Athlone, is accused of being part of an armed and masked four man gang which tied up members of the Kilmartin family before making off with a safe containing €10,000 in cash and over €100,000 in jewellery. The aggravated burglary took place at the Kilmartin home at Ladyswell in Glasson on February 13, 2005. In his opening statement, prosecution counsel Mr John Hayden said the men broke into the home of Damian and Rachel Kilmartin and demanded the takings from the N6 Service Station. They tied up members of the family and locked them in a downstairs toilet. There were four children in the house at the time. When the group failed to obtain takings from the business they demanded to know if there was a safe in the house. The men were directed to an upstairs safe which they rolled down the stairs. The state will claim they made an unsuccessful attempt to load the safe into Mr Kilmartin's BMW coupe before departing with the safe in a BMW jeep belonging to Mrs Kilmartin, according to Mr Hayden. Blood discovered on the boot of the BMW coupe was later matched to a hair sample provided by Mr McGinley, explained Mr Hayden. "The only evidence is really evidence of DNA sampling taken from a bloodstain on the back boot of Mr Kilmartin's BMW," he added. The trial is continuing at a sitting of Mullingar Circuit Court taking place in Tullamore. A jury of eight men and four women was told to expect the trial to last for six days.