Man jailed for burglary and assault at Athlone language school

A 24-year-old man has been jailed for nine months for a burglary at an Athlone language school during which he assaulted a woman in January of last year.

Ahmed Maya Ahmed, a Syrian native with an address at Balseskin Reception Centre, St Margaret's Road, Finglas, Dublin, was sentenced during last Wednesday's sitting of Athlone District Court.

Mr Ahmed was already serving a three-month sentence for an unrelated assault offence. The court was told that he had gone by a number of different identities previously, in the UK, France and Germany, and that Gardai remained "unaware" of his true identity.

He had pleaded guilty to committing the burglary and assault offences at Shannon Academy in Garden Vale, Athlone, on January 16, 2024.

Detective Garda John Divilly told the court that Mr Ahmed had been spotted by a female in one of the language school's classrooms after 9am. The court heard that the woman, at first, thought he was either a work colleague or a student.

The woman then noticed that a noticed that a number of cabinets had been pulled out in the school’s office area, and that some of the students' lockers had also been left open.

She told Mr Ahmed he would have to stay on the premises, at which point he became aggressive towards her, calling her a "f****** bitch" and pulling her by the hair.

The court was told that the woman fell onto a set of stairs but showed remarkable courage by dragging herself up and pushing Ahmed back. She also managed to take a picture of the defendant, who was later identified via DNA which had been retrieved from a glove he had left behind at the scene.

Outlining twelve previous convictions to the defendant's name, Det Gda Divilly told Judge Bernadette Owens of the difficulties Gardaí had faced in tracking him down.

"We are not aware of the true identity of this person," said the Detective Garda. "He goes by three different names in this jurisdiction, 21 in the UK, six in France and one in Germany that we are aware of."

The defendant's previous convictions included assault, theft, drugs, public order and burglary incidents.

Defence solicitor Dara Hayden said his client had left his Syrian home at a young age by fleeing to Europe to seek asylum over fears that his life was under threat due to his sexuality.

The solicitor said his client had lived in Germany, Turkey and, most recently, in the UK for six years. After coming to Ireland he had worked briefly as a barber in Dublin but his lifestyle had become more "chaotic" in the last year and a half.

Mr Hayden said there was "no reasonable explanation" for his client's behaviour at the language school during this incident, saying the break-in was, at best, "opportunistic" in nature.

The solicitor conveyed an apology on behalf of his client whom, he said, intends to leave Ireland after his release from prison.

Judge Owens, factoring in Mr Ahmed's guilty plea and "relevant previous convictions", issued a nine month sentence for the burglary offence, which she backdated to July 26, when he first went into custody.

The judge said the assault offence also warranted a custodial sentence, noting that it had been inflicted on a person "in the course of her employment".

The defendant was given a four-month sentence for the assault, which, the judge directed, is to run concurrently with his sentence on the burglary charge.