Limerick gangster and CAB target faces more jail time for horror attack on home

Also known as William Lyons, he will have his sentence increased next week, after a successful application by the State to the Court of Appeal.

A three-judge panel yesterday decided to find in favour of the State’s case and said that they would give their reasons at a hearing next week.

The State’s argument was the trial judge had been too lenient in setting a headline sentence of five years before taking mitigation into account.

The maximum jail-time for burglary is 14 years and the trial judge erred in identifying five years as a headline sentence as it "failed to reflect the seriousness of the offending" and the "physical and psychological harm done to the victim".

A "forceful mob" had turned up at the house and damaged lights and windows with the victim's "very small baby" suffering small cuts to its forehead from smashed window glass.

Monica Leech BL for the State said the incident was aggravated because it occurred at a private home and Lyons had led the "mob" to the house before telling the victim that he would return to her home and kill her.

Counsel added that the victim could recognise Lyons as he was not wearing any face covering unlike the other members of the group.

He had one previous conviction for making a threat to kill dating back to 2007.

Lyons’ counsel argued the sentencing was within the guidelines and that Lyons had pleaded guilty at an early stage and written a letter expressing his remorse.

Limerick criminal Liam Walters suspected to be behind jailhouse brawl over drugs control

Last year the Sunday World revealed how Lyons had been transferred to the high-security Portlaoise Prison from Limerick in a bid to defuse tensions amid fears he was attempting to exert control over the drugs trade behind bars.

Sources said the clash came following the release of gangsters Brian and Kieran Collopy from Limerick Prison in late 2021, where they had controlled the supply of illicit drugs in the prison.

Following the mob attack in February 2021, Lyons had made an attempt to leave the country but was stopped at Dublin Airport because he did not have the necessary Covid-19 paperwork.

Gardaí who searched Lyons' home at Mount Singland in Limerick after he was identified as a suspect described it as a "fortress".

The victim of the attack rejected an offer of €10,000 in compensation and was given a two-and-a-half-year sentence.

Lyons, aka Walters, previously hit the headlines in 2015 after €600,000 discovered in a property linked to him was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

He had also been linked to a €1.5 million cash seizure found buried in a field in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick in 2013, which at the time was the biggest cash seizure in State history.

Two men were caught as they used a mechanical excavator to dig up the money, which had been buried deep underground.

A tumble dryer was being used to dry out the cash which had become soggy, leaving wads of bank notes stuck together.

The €1.5m was made up of various denominations and it took investigating gardaí two days to count the cash.

Lyons was never charged in connection with the discovery of the €1.5 million cash.