A woman from Zimbabwe who lived at an asylum centre in Lissywollen in Athlone has been jailed for eight years for her role in carrying out violent burglaries at the homes of seven elderly people for whom she had acted as carer.
38-year-old Precious Moyo pleaded guilty to burglary and aggravated burglary offences between June and September 2023. Her accomplice in the crimes, Yamen Alhamada, a asylum seeker from Syria, was sentenced to six years for his part in the burglaries at the homes of the elderly people aged from 73 to 89.
At a previous hearing, Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court heard that Moyo had worked as a home help for an agency, and that she had used that role to develop “intimate” knowledge about the households of her victims. She had claimed to be a social worker before coming to Ireland, the court had heard.
Alhamada, who is 20, and gave an address of Warren Grove, Boyle, Co Roscommon, had begun abusing alcohol and drugs while in college. He became Moyo’s accomplice in targeting and robbing often vulnerable older people, in a crime spree which left their victims traumatised and in fear.
Yamen Alhamada
Several of the burglaries involved violence and intimidation. On 2 September 2023, at 5am, the pair drove to the home of an 80-year-old man with mobility issues who lives on his own, and was woken by the sound of glass breaking,.
Moyo had used a wheel jack to smash their way into the house before she and Alhamada entered the victim’s bedroom and started shouting at the elderly man to give them his money.
He was held by his arms by Alhamada, who pulled had the man’s panic alarm from around his wrist, and then held down on the ground before being hit by Alhamada who caused the elderly man to bleed heavily from his nose.
Alhamada then pierced the man’s arms a number of times with what the victim said he believed to have been a needle concealed in his glove.
The pair went through the victim’s deceased deceased wife’s belongings and stole €200 from a wallet and some of his wife’s jewellery.
Ms Moyo told the elderly man before they left: “we’ll be back’”.
Gardaí who were called to the man’s house confirmed there were “pools of blood on the bedroom floor” and that the house had been ransacked,
The elderly man gave a victim impact statement in which he told of being “constantly afraid someone will break in” to the house which he had built 50 years ago to raise his family. Addressing the judge, he said that the pair should be locked “up for a long time because they are evil”.
Precious Moyo
In another violent burglary on 8 September, a man with dementia and his partner, both in their 80s, had €10,000 stolen by the two defendants who broke into their home in the town, RTE reported.
Mr Alhamada was armed with a five-inch flick knife, and Ms Moyo showed “intimate knowledge” of the layout of the house, the occupants and their possessions.
The teenager, disguised in a wig, mask and dress, grabbed the elderly woman by her throat and dragged her to the floor, resulting in a cut to the side of her ear as he shouted, “Where’s the money?”
Meanwhile, Ms Moyo put her hand over the man’s mouth, restricting his breathing, and directed the teenager to remove a wrist alarm from the woman.
In her victim impact statement, the senior citizen revealed that she and her partner lost trust, fearing it would happen again.
The woman and her partner had since moved to separate nursing homes, she said, “and I miss him dearly”.
Another burglary took place at the house of a woman aged 73 who had €24,000 in savings to cover the funeral costs of both the householder and her sister. Just €2,250 of the missing money was eventually recovered.
Her sister told the court that she had to move in full-time because the victim was now “so afraid”, RTÉ reported.
“This money was to be used for our funerals. My sister’s heart and my own heart are now broken; now we are so worried as to how we will pay for our funerals.”
The court heard Ms Moyo “put the fear of God into her”; her victim constantly locks her house now, and her life changed dramatically.
Another woman aged 89 with advanced dementia let Alhamada into her house believing he was a garda. He stole her handbag, which contained over €200, and her bank cards.
Another attempted robbery of a 76-year old widow was foiled by her lodger. The court heard the woman, who had undergone cancer treatment, was left frightened and constantly checking if anyone was at the door. She had also stopped her home carers coming to her home.
Judge Keenan Johnson said the effect of the crimes on elderly people were heartbreaking, and that some of the victims can no longer live independently because the burglaries had destroyed their sense of security, describing the pair as an absolute disgrace. He praised the “painstaking” Garda investigation that led to their arrest.
Alhamada told gardaí that he had been given €2,500 from the crimes by Moyo and that he was afraid of her because she was “into black magic called ‘juju’. He had spent much of the money on weed, and the court heard he was a cannabis addict.
Moyo had worked for a care agency which provided services to all the victims between April to June 2023.
Judge Johnson said he did not want people highlighting this case as being indicative of refugees, saying the vast majority are law abiding citizens, RTÉ reported.