Young children and babysitter (13) huddled in hallway as windows smashed by ‘thugs’

Two brothers are due to reappear in Roscommon Circuit Court in March, when they will be expected to have paid a total of €13,000 in compensation following the violent smashing of windows at a family’s home in Taughmaconnell while three young children and a 13-year-old babysitter - the sole occupants of the house - huddled, terrified, in the hallway.

Adam McMorrow (23) and Evan McMorrow (20), formerly of Cloonfad, Oldtown, Athlone, Co Roscommon, now both of Killeenmore, Co Offaly, appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly where the elder of the two was charged with threatening to damage property, and the younger with criminal damage.

Those charges relate to the night of August 20, 2023, into the early hours of August 21, 2023, when the injured party and his wife were attending a birthday party in Loughrea. They made plans to have a drink at the home of the injured party’s father next door afterwards, as they didn’t like to drink in their own home while the kids were there, the court heard.

On their way there, they stopped at a service station for cigarettes and met Adam McMorrow there. The court heard that something was said, resulting in the injured party grabbing him and wrestling him, causing both to tumble over an ice cream dispenser.

While they were at his father’s house a short time later, they heard a loud car pass the house and looked out to see it pulling into their own gateway, before three people got out and began roaring and smashing the windows.

They waited until they felt safe enough to go to their home and went over to find their three young children and 13-year-old babysitter huddling in the hallway and crying.

They found half a concrete block in the sitting room, a baton in a downstairs bedroom, and blood on the walls.

The babysitter gave a statement to Gardaí, stating a brick had come through the living room window and she could hear people shouting and the children crying.

Fortunately, she had taken the baby out of his cot, as it was beside the window, which was smashed moments later.

Damage to the door, windows, patio windows and other glass amounted to €8,626, which was covered by the couple’s insurance, but increased their premium by approximately €100 per month, the court heard.

The injured party had a number of missed calls from Adam McMorrow, as well as a Facebook message, which read “I promise you’ll see me. You’ll be one sorry boy, ya big fool. I’ll burn your house ya dirty lookin’ eejit”.

When arrested and interviewed, Adam McMorrow confirmed that there had been an altercation in the service station but denied involvement in any damage to the house. His brother, Evan, was arrested after DNA evidence confirmed the blood at the scene was his. He made full admissions.

A total of €2,000 was paid in June by way of compensation, the court heard, with a further €1,050 in court on the day of the sentence hearing.

Neither of the brothers had previous convictions at the time of the offence, but both have come to subsequent Garda attention for road traffic matters.

In a victim impact statement, the owner of the home told the court that, when he thinks of the incident, he feels like he has “failed as a father” because these men were able to “destroy our home and terrify our kids”. He said the incident left him and his wife “broken, helpless and numb”.

“The amount of time, work and effort put into building our family home and it was destroyed within minutes,” he said.

The family had to move out for a week while they waited for temporary single-paned windows to be installed at a cost of €900 from their own pocket, while they waited for the double-glazed panes to be replaced.

“We were still finding glass in the house for six or eight weeks,” he said.

“The kids were scared to go to bed on their own up to six months after. They asked were the boys who made all the banging ever going to come back. We had to sleep beside our eldest kids (aged four and five) for six months after”.

Financially, he said he had to take two weeks off work, at a loss of €1,600, while his wife was down €2,600 in earnings due to needing to take a month off work.

Furthermore, the electricity bill was €600 for the two months due to having to keep the heat on consistently, due to heat escaping through the temporary single-glazed windows.

The children are “doing well but it took a long time”, he said, stating that it was the couple’s one-year-old baby that broke their hearts as there were “numerous bits of glass in his cot”.

In mitigation, Robert Lowe BL, told the court that Adam McMorrow had suffered a difficult time following the tragic death of the boys’ mother in a house fire, which he witnessed. He was homeless for a while, but has since found stable employment and is in a stable relationship.

His client had brought a total of €750 to court and was due to be paid by the end of the week, so further monies would be made available.

Ross Nestor BL, on behalf of Evan McMorrow, said his client had made full admissions. He was 17 at the time of the offence.

He admitted to throwing the concrete block through the window and said he was unaware there were small children in the house and he “felt terrible”.

“He was highly intoxicated and didn’t use his brain,” said Mr Nestor.

Evan McMorrow had assisted the injured party with odd jobs during the construction of the house and “would’ve had a decent relationship” prior to the incident.

Both brothers are currently living and working in Tullamore and both had provided written apologies to the court.

Judge Connolly, addressing the injured party, noted how “magnanimous” the couple were to say they did not wish to see the brothers in custody.

He calculated the total financial loss of the injured parties to be upwards of €10,000 and said he was “struggling with the fact that these offences occurred in August 2023 and two years and two months later the sum of just €1,000 each has been paid”.

“It’s very clear this was an appallingly heinous act. It is absolutely abhorrent what those children went through,” he said, including the 13-year-old babysitter in that statement, as she was “placed in a situation where she was the protector of these children” during the terrifying incident.

“It is chilling to think of the babysitter and children huddling in the hallway,” he said.

Noting a maximum ten-year sentence available to him, he said his initial instinct was to imprison both “thugs” there and then.

However, his hand was stayed by the fact the injured parties did not wish to see them imprisoned and instead wanted some recompense for their financial losses.

He also noted both men were in gainful employment and he was reluctant to remove any young person from a working environment.

“But I have no patience for drib drab compensation,” he said, indicating that he would like to see the family compensated “to the tune of €12,000”, with a further €1,000 to be given to the babysitter.

Excluding the compensation paid to date, Mr Nestor indicated the brothers would be in a position to pay the balance of €9,950 by the first day of the next sittings of Roscommon Circuit Court in March.

Judge Connolly accepted that, stating “these men are most fortunate to be walking out the public door and not the custody door”.

He remanded the pair on continuing bail to March 10, 2026, when they will be expected to have the full balance paid in compensation.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme