'Monster' who sexually abused Cork boy scouts had door handles ...
A 78-year-old former scout leader who was described as an ‘animal’ and a ‘monster’ by boys he sexually abused boobytrapped three doors at his home to the electrical mains where someone could have been electrocuted on touching a handle.
In a case that was listed for trial and adjourned several times previously, Michael Noel Sheehan of Chimney Field, Glenville, County Cork, finally pleaded guilty to the endangerment charge and he was given a one-year jail term by Judge Dermot Sheehan at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The wiring up of door handles at his home was discovered when gardaí made a call to the isolated former schoolhouse — where the sexual abuse of scouts took place more than 30 years ago — following concerns about the 78-year-old’s own wellbeing.
An old friend of the defendant raised the alarm on February 15, 2022. On arrival, gardaí spoke to neighbours, one of whom told gardaí that the accused had boobytrapped some doors.
Sergeant Danny Cowman later went to the scene with the assistance of the ESB and the location was made safe. Before this was done the situation was that three internal door handles were wired to the mains so that 230 volts of electricity was running through them.
Brendan Kelly, defence barrister, said: “He is a solitary and lonely gentleman living in an isolated area. It was not overly complex and he did it in the context of not thinking straight when he was in a vulnerable condition with suicidal ideation.
"It is a very sad case. This man had significant mental health issues. He was considering suicide. Thankfully, he did not. This offence of endangerment was as remote as it gets. 99.9% of the time nobody would have been any the wiser.”
Judge Dermot Sheehan asked: “Is there an identifiable mental illness?” Mr Kelly said there was not but added:
He has no family, he has no friend and he might not have a house to come back to. His situation is hopeless.
The one-year sentence will run concurrently with a sentence of four years he is serving for indecently assaulting boy scouts.
Judge Sheehan said of the endangerment: “I think it was an appalling thing to do — the fact that he would think of doing this.”
Case background
Sergeant John Kelleher outlined the background facts when the case first came to court: “Garda Bryan Murphy and Garda Brian McCabe responded to a call in relation to a welfare check and attended the defendant’s address.
“Gardaí inspected the house and found the living conditions were of poor quality. (They were informed that the defendant) had boobytrapped doors of the house by hooking up the mains power to the door handles.
“Later a search was carried out by both gardaí and the ESB. The house was made safe by members of the ESB. They discovered that the mains electricity had been hooked up to three internal door handles.
“There was 230 volts of electricity running through the door handles. This was enough electricity to cause death or serious injury. All power was disconnected from the address.”
