'too lenient' Horror mugging victim 'devastated' after being told attacker's sentence will not be appealed

The victim of a horror mugging who was beaten over the head 40 times with his own crutch and had three coins forced down his throat has said he is devastated after being told his attacker's sentence will not be appealed.

Former All-Ireland winner Seamus Troy recently released shocking images of the injuries inflicted upon him by thug Adam Sheehan just hours after Seamus got out of hospital.

Seamus spoke out to call for a radical overhaul of sentencing guidelines where unprovoked attacks leave victims with life altering injuries - after Sheehan was given an effective jail sentence of just three years and nine months.

And he told how he was pinning his hopes for justice on the DPP and an appeal against the leniency of Sheehan's sentence.

But in a devastating blow for the father of four, who has since been diagnosed with PTSD, the 47-year-old was contacted by gardai last week and informed that the DPP would not be moving ahead with an appeal.

"I was contacted by the gardai on Sunday night after the article appeared in the paper and told there would be no appeal," Seamus, who won All-Ireland minor and under-21 hurling medals with his native Tipperary in 1989 and 1991, told the Sunday World.

"I was shocked … devastated is properly the better word. All that was keeping me going was the hope that the DPP would bring the case back to court.

"The sentence was wrong … you only have to look at what he did to me and there can be no doubt about that. It's far too lenient.

"The offence carried with it a sentence of 10 years … his sentence is less than half of that and with time served he will be out in less than three years.

"This is just wrong."

In last week's article, Seamus explained how he sustained a broken eye socket, broken nose, a broken bone in his neck and required 27 staples to the head, after being viciously attacked just hours after he left Cork University Hospital following an operation.

Earlier in February, Sheehan (26) was given a 'headline' jail sentence of five years in prison for the attack, but because he automatically qualifies for 25 per cent remission, his real sentence for the near fatal attack is just three years and nine months.

Recalling the events of the day of the attack, Seamus said: "I had just left the hospital ... I'd been in having an operation.

"I had gone and had a burger and then I got a taxi up to the bus station to get a bus back to Limerick and they told me to go around the back.

"But he followed me around and grabbed my bag. I said 'come back with my bag' and I went to ring 999.

"And then he did come back and he pushed me to the ground.

"He took my crutch and beat me with it. He hit me at least 40 times over the head. He kept beating me with it until the crutch broke.

"The night he beat me … I remember looked up at him and I said: 'I have kids, please stop.'

"But he just said: 'I don't give a f**k what you have,' and he just kept beating me and beating me over the head and across the face.

"My eyes were closed for six weeks, I had a big lump on my neck and my nose was broken from it.

"I had to go back to hospital afterwards because of the coins he left lodged in my stomach.

"The doctors did an MRI in Cork and that had to be forwarded on to my doctor and he sent me straight to the hospital to have the coins removed."

Appearing before Cork Circuit Court earlier this month, Sheehan, from Seamus Murphy Place in Mallow pleaded guilty to robbing Seamus on Railway Lane, off Brian Boru Street in Cork city centre on May 20 last year.

Garda Padraig White told how gardai found Seamus lying on the ground covered in blood on Railway Lane before they spotted Sheehan with blood on his clothes nearby.

They arrested Sheehan, who was quite intoxicated, and brought him to Mayfield Garda station for questioning and he admitted mugging Seamus and stealing his phone, rucksack and €80 in cash.

Sheehan's barrister, Peter O'Flynn, said that his client had apologised for what he had done during interview by gardai.

Mr O'Flynn said that he was not offering it as an excuse but Sheehan had consumed a headshop drug called spice, thinking it was cannabis.

He said the drug was recognised as having psychotic effects on users.

He said while Sheehan had 20 previous convictions, including some for burglary and arson, he had no previous convictions for such violence and he believed it could be attributed to consuming spice.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said it was an appalling offence where a vulnerable man just out of hospital was mugged in such a heartless fashion and beaten repeatedly with his own crutches.

He said that Sheehan's behaviour was clearly psychotic on the day and while he may have taken a drug which affected his mood, it did not excuse his behaviour in committing such a violent mugging.

"This was a merciless attack without compassion, necessity or purpose," he said.

He sentenced Sheehan to seven years in jail but suspended the final two years of the prison term.

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