Kickboxer who threatened woman with knife just weeks before killing his mother jailed

An amateur kickboxer who was “frothing at the mouth” when he barged into a terrified grandmother’s home has been jailed for two years.

Luke Donnelly (30), with former addresses of Riverbank, Drogheda, County Louth, and Killucan, County Westmeath, appeared before Mullingar Circuit Court, where he faced charges of aggravated burglary while armed with a kitchen knife, and assault causing harm.

The aggravated burglary took place on April 13, 2023, at an address in Grange Heights, Mullingar, County Westmeath, and the assault causing harm took place on August 8, 2022, at an address on Delvin Road, Mullingar. Guilty pleas were entered to the assault and a lesser charge of burglary.

In June of this year, Mr Donnelly was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, with the final 12 months suspended, for the manslaughter of his mother, Catherine Henry, (62) in Dundalk, County Louth, on May 23, 2023.

The killing took place within six weeks of the aggravated burglary at Grange Heights in April of that year, when Mr Donnelly held a butcher’s knife to a woman’s chest and demanded she pay him €3,000 to pay off her son’s debt, or he would burn her house down and kill her.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said she had “never seen a young lad with such hatred”, and that she is now terrified to be in her own home.

She said the events of that day were the “scariest, most frightening time of my life”, because “my life flashed in front of me; I thought I was going to die”.

The assault in August 2022 took place when a man in his 20s was leaving Mullingar after attending the Fleadh Cheoil.

Garda Brian Campbell told the court that the injured party boarded a bus, where Mr Donnelly was present with a woman, and filming passengers while threatening to burn down their houses.

The victim and the accused got off the bus following an interaction during which the injured party told Mr Donnelly “not to be a bollocks”.

Initially, the pair went to shake hands, but the bus driver witnessed Mr Donnelly punching the other man in the jaw. The victim could not recall portions of the night and only remembered getting back onto the bus, where other passengers informed him he had been assaulted.

The man required hospital treatment for a broken jaw, but has since made a full recovery. He opted not to supply the court with a victim impact statement.

Aside from his most recent conviction for manslaughter, Mr Donnelly has one previous conviction for public order, in 2019, and three for possession of drugs for sale or supply in 2014.

Conall McCarthy, SC, defending, previously told the court that Mr Donnelly has “a serious drug problem”, which led to hallucinations and, “at periods he thought he was Jesus Christ”.

Mr Donnelly engaged in “erratic behaviour”, was aggressive and alienated himself from family and friends. Originally from Dublin, he had what Mr McCarthy described as a “chaotic upbringing”. He was rendered homeless at 13, alongside his sister, before being taken in by his father.

He experienced violence from his mother as a child, the court heard, and started using drugs at an early age. He later became involved in the sale and supply of drugs, sometimes “at the behest of his mother”.

His involvement with drugs began with cannabis in his mid-teens, before he moved on to ecstasy, MDMA, LSD and ketamine by the time he turned 20.

Psychological and psychiatric reports furnished to the court detailed an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, and a number of documents provided gave “considerable evidence of a large number of courses completed by Mr Donnelly as “he’s trying to turn his life around”.

Judge Deirdre Browne said it was clear from reports that the accused had suffered significant childhood adversities and that the offences were connected to his spiralling drug use. She noted the diagnosis of autism, and his difficulties in developing coping strategies, regulating his emotions, understanding consequential thinking and demonstrating empathy for victims.

For the assault of the man on the bus, she imposed a two-year prison sentence. A sentence of four years was imposed for the “brutal” aggravated burglary, with the final two years suspended for two years. Both terms will be served concurrently.

However, despite the defence pleading with the court not to add to Mr Donnelly’s existing jail term, Judge Browne said that these were serious offences committed against people unknown to him.

She therefore ruled that the sentences must run consecutively to the manslaughter sentence imposed on Mr Donnelly earlier this year.