Prison, suspended sentence and community service for armed gang in Longford dispute

One prison sentence, one suspended sentence and three community service orders have been doled out to a group of five men who donned balaclavas and "armed themselves to the teeth" before driving into Longford town to "frighten and intimidate" a rival group.

Filip Kowalski (18), of 39 Mostrim Oaks, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, Damien Wierchos (22), of 77 Abhainn Glas, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, Marcus Curma (19), of 103 Mostrim Oaks, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, Sebastain Pieprzyca (20), of 10a Cloverwell, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, and Patryk Makitow (27), of 39 Alderfield, Farnagh, Longford, all appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly at Longford Circuit Court last Friday afternoon. Garda John Fitzmaurice gave evidence that, on May 6, 2022, at 7pm a "jeep full of males in balaclavas" was observed at Camlin Mews in Longford town.

A resident of the estate reported to gardaí that she went outside and saw "around 15 young fellas standing close to the head of the estate, most of them wearing balaclavas". All of the men had weapons such as baseball bats, bars or slash hooks, she said. They were calling out a friend of her son's to fight. Gardaí were contacted and the Armed Support Unit stopped a vehicle at 8pm on the Battery Road. "We found them just up from the Garda Station," Gda Fitzmaurice told the court. "The ASU had pulled them in just prior to our arrival." The vehicle and the men were searched and a number of weapons were found, including baseball bats, pepper spray, steel bars and knuckle dusters. Five men were being held by the ASU outside the vehicle. They were arrested and questioned.

The narrative provided by the accused men during questioning by gardaí was that they had been threatened by another group who had weapons and had returned to town later in the day with weapons of their own to "frighten and intimidate" the opposing group. The court heard that there was a "very serious feud" going on between the two groups, "with very serious weapons". However, Gda Fitzmaurice added, things have been "quiet" over the last 12 months. "It'll be even quieter when they're all in jail," Judge Kenneth Connolly quipped, before adjourning the case. When the matter returned, Judge Connolly stressed that he will not tolerate feuding behaviour in Longford. I've made it very, very clear that I detest the words 'feud' and 'feuding' and there's no place for it in society," he said.

I have no idea why these young men would subscribe to it, or why they would don balaclavas, arm themselves to the teeth, get in a car and drive to Longford to frighten and intimidate others. "It may be that they were met with another gang and some threatening behaviour and we have no evidence to contradict that. But it is absolutely no excuse whatsoever," he added, stating that the men should have gone to the Gardaí and not armed themselves in such a manner. hey will face a prison sentence. If that has to go on for the next ten years until I eradicate feuding in Longford then that is what I'll do," Judge Connolly stressed. Aggravating factors for all five men included the "sheer recklessness and premeditation" of the incident and "the normalisation of it", which Judge Connolly said bothered him greatly.

He said there was a "sinister aspect" to it, with five people getting into a car and meeting a sixth, and arming themselves.
Mitigating factors in all cases included the early guilty pleas to violent disorder, fulsome accounts and assistance given to Gardaí. In the case of Damian Wierzchos, Judge Connolly noted a "very significant conviction" involving possession of over €40,000 worth of drugs, and the fact that, in the course of the incident before the court the accused concealed pepper spray and a butterfly knife in his underwear. "It was put forward by the defence that he was acting out of fear, but that doesn't stack up to the amount of weapons stuffed into the Nissan Qashqai, which could barely drive under the weight of the weapons, I would suspect," he said.

A probation report put Mr Wierzchos at moderate risk of reoffending and Judge Connolly said he was concerned about the previous drugs conviction but "impressed" by the accused's rehabilitation. He therefore sentenced Mr Wierzchos to two years and three months in prison, which he suspended for three years under a number of conditions, including that he remain drug free, engage with probation services and anger management services and that he remain outside of Longford town for one year. He has also been ordered to pay a charitable donation of €2,500 to Lús na Gréine. "You're on the brink of spending a very long time in prison, so you better get a grip," said Judge Connolly. In the cases of Filip Kowalski, Marcus Curma and Sebastain Pieprzyca, Judge Connolly noted positive probation reports and a lack of convictions previous or subsequent to this incident and that each were willing to pay a charitable donation of €1,000 to Lús na Gréine FRC in Granard. 

With that in mind, Judge Connolly imposed 200 hours of community service on Mr Pieprzyca in lieu of two years in prison, and 150 hours each to Mr Curma and Mr Kowalski in lieu of 18 months in prison. However, Judge Connolly stressed that the sentence was not suspended, merely substituted for community service to remind the three men of what could have happened had they not had such glowing probation reports. In relation to Patryk Makitow, Judge Connolly noted the accused's age put him in a "different cerebral set" to the others. "He is much older, much more experienced and ought to have much more sense," he said. Mr Makitow also has nine previous convictions from six separate incidents. Those include a number of thefts, possession of drugs, affray, burglary, criminal damage and public order.

"He has had every opportunity to change his ways and simply hasn't, but I am not a judge willing to give chance after chance after chance and he has overstepped the threshold for a custodial sentence," he said.
For the violent disorder incident, he sentenced Mr Makitow to two years and four months in prison, but suspended the final 14 months for two years post release. He also handed a concurrent prison sentence of eight months for the possession of an implement. Destruction orders were made for all weapons that were seized following the incident.