Burglar hadn’t got a prayer after DNA found on rosary beads

Father-of-three, John Delaney (32), the caravan, Borris-in-Ossory roundabout, Co. Laois, had initially opted for trial, but then changed his plea to guilty to burglary at a house in The Elms, College Road, Galway, on March 2, 2014, when faced with the indisputable DNA evidence against him.

The court heard the national DNA database was not established until November 2015, but a sample of DNA was taken from the rosary beads at the crime scene in March, 2014 by Galway’s Crime Scene Investigation team and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Dublin.  A DNA profile was generated from the sample and kept on file.

Delaney, who had 100 previous convictions by that stage, including 21 for burglaries and several more for robberies and assaults, went on to rob the female owner of a hair salon in Galway City on February 15, 2015, for which he received a six-year sentence with the final year suspended in May of last year.

Meanwhile, in October, 2016, Gardai in Galway were notified the database had matched Delaney’s DNA to the burglary at The Elms in 2014.

Garda Pat Fahy said the burglary at The Elms occurred just before noon.

He said a student, who was a part-time barman, woke to find a burglar standing beside his bed.  The burglar (Delaney) was holding the student’s wallet in his hand.  The student jumped up and a struggle ensued.

Delaney punched the student in the face, who then punched him back, grabbing his wallet back.  Delaney grabbed the wallet again and ran downstairs.  He was confronted by the student’s father and all three men tumbled down the stairs, falling inside the front door.

Delaney grabbed the wallet again, but the father and son managed to get it back before Delaney fled out the front door.

Gardai carried out a forensic examination of the house and found rosary beads on the stairs which had been ripped off Delaney’s neck in the struggle.

They checked CCTV footage from premises in the area, but Delaney was never found.

Garda Fahy said Delaney was interviewed in February, 2017, while serving a six-month sentence for another burglary in the Midlands.  He said he could not remember the Galway burglary as he was taking a lot of drugs at the time.

A swab was taken from him and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory.  It matched the DNA found on the rosary beads.

Delaney got into the house through an unlocked front door.

A victim impact statement from the student, who has since moved abroad, was read into evidence. He said that a person was supposed to feel safe and secure in their own home, but he had never felt safe since that morning.

Delaney’s barrister said his client was “a junkie” looking for money for drugs up and down the country at the time of this offence.

Judge Gerald Keyes sentenced Delaney to three years in prison with the final 16 months suspended.  He made the sentence consecutive to the five-year sentence Delaney is currently serving.