A 42-year-old man who held his “community up for ransom” by firing up to 48 shotgun rounds during a 21-hour seige in Gort has been sentenced to a total of five years in jail with the final year suspended.
In passing sentence at Galway Circuit Court last Monday, Judge Raymond Groarke described the actions of Anthony Burke as “an outrage”. He said that Burke had terrified his family, neighbours, and gardai, and that although he may not have intended to endanger lives, serious or fatal injuries could have occurred.
Following his trial Burke, with an address at 67 Crowe Street, Gort, was acquitted by a jury of being in possession of two shotguns and ammunition with intent to endanger life. He also pleaded not guilty to possession of firearms in suspicious circumstances; however, the jury found him to be guilty of this charge.
A plea of guilty was entered to all remaining charges including possession of the two shotguns and ammunition with intent to cause injury to property, possession of ammunition which was not authorised at the time, criminal damage to two garda vehicles, two privately owned cars, and to a lighting unit, and to reakless discharge of a firearm.
During the course of the trial it was revealed that a domestic dispute began at Burke’s home at around 11pm on October 8, 2006. Burke ran upstairs to get a shotgun but this was taken off him by his partner Margaret Corless. He then went to get a second shotgun and fired it a number of times. Ms Corless and her three children were forced to flee to a neighbour’s house.
Gardai were also fired at when they approached the house to talk to Burke. A number of shots were fired through the front and back doors, as well as upstairs windows. Burke eventually left the house, fired at floodlights, and while crouching down between two disabled garda cars he reloaded and aimed at gardai. A number of non-lethal rounds were fired by gardai and Burke was shot in the shoulder area before being knocked to the ground. The siege ended at 9pm on October 9. Burke was arrested at UHG on October 25 and taken to Ennis Garda Station for questioning.
The jury heard that Burke always maintained that he had not intended to injure anyone. When it was put to him during questioning by gardai that he had intended a “suicide by cop” scenario, he had replied that he had intended for the gardai to fire at him.
At the sentencing hearing last Monday Detective Pat Conlon said that during the 21-hour siege a total of 48 shots were fired, 40 of these were discharged in the house.
The court heard that a huge garda operation was put in place with the Emergency Response Unit, trained negotiators, helicopter, and dog units being brought in to quell the situation. Detective Conlon said that one female member of the Gardai was still “traumatised” and receiving treatment. Neighbours, including children, were “put in fear” and had to be evacuated.
“He held this community up for ransom. He terrified not just his family but the people of his community... This was an outrage,” said Judge Groarke before imposing a total of five years in jail with the final year suspended on condition that he enter a bond of €100 to keep the peace and be of good behaviour following his release, and that he not take any drink and be placed under the supervision of the Probation Services. An order for the confiscation of the firearms and the ammunition was also made.
