Each case starts with a news report. The line beside it follows the case through arrest, charge, court and sentence. A dashed step means no outlet reported it, though a later step shows it happened.
5 cases now at sentenced in Westmeath, latest report first
- No. 0122
Man jailed for six-and-a-half years for manslaughter of man on stag party in Athlone
Manslaughter · Westmeath
Victim: Irish man, 48 (judged from name)Suspect: Seán Munnelly, Irish man, 40 (judged from name)Seán MunnellySuspect: David Higgins, Irish man (judged from name)David HigginsPaul 'Babs' Connolly, a 48-year-old single man from Edenderry, Co Offaly, was assaulted for 21 minutes with punches and kicks by Seán Munnelly, 40, of Athlone, and David Higgins of Athlone, in the early hours of 13 August 2022 on Church Street in Athlone, Co Westmeath, while on a stag party. Connolly was knocked to the ground three times and died in an ambulance on the way to hospital, with a postmortem attributing his death to cardiac arrest from blunt force trauma to the head in a setting of acute intoxication. Munnelly, who had 102 previous convictions and was on bail and a suspended sentence at the time, changed his plea to guilty of manslaughter in June 2024 just before a jury was to be empanelled. He was sentenced at Mullingar Circuit Court in October 2026 to seven years with the final six months suspended, backdated to 27 February 2024, while Higgins had previously been jailed for one year for assault causing harm and violent disorder.
Sentenced16 Oct2 reports from irishtimes.com
- No. 0201
Two 17-year-old boys sentenced for drug-debt intimidation shooting in Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Reckless discharge of a firearm, criminal damage, arson, possession of drugs · Westmeath
Victim: womanSuspect: 2 peopleTwo 17-year-old boys, who were 16 at the time and had no prior convictions, were sentenced in October 2026 for a drug-debt intimidation shooting at a house in Ardleigh Park, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, on 14 July 2025, and for a campaign of criminal damage and arson targeting seven properties across Westmeath, Offaly and Longford between February and May 2025. The victim was a woman, and the boys, who cannot be named as juveniles, pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to recklessly discharging a home-made blank-firing shotgun, criminal damage, arson, and possession of a blank-firing handgun, blank rounds and €7,000 of cannabis. The boy who fired the gun was sent into custody until a date in December, after which a three-year sentence will be suspended over five years, while his co-accused received concurrent sentences including a six-year suspended term, €14,500 in victim compensation by 1 June 2027, and 240 hours of community service. Both boys told the court they had drug debts and were forced to take part, and the judge described the drug barons who used them as 'like a cancer' on the State.
Sentenced5 Oct2 reports from irishtimes.com
- No. 0207
Former garda David Reynolds spared jail for controlling and coercive behaviour of wife over three years
Controlling and coercive behaviour · Westmeath
Victim: Ashley Masterson, Irish woman (judged from name)Ashley MastersonSuspect: David Reynolds, Irish man, 45 (judged from name)David ReynoldsDavid Reynolds, 45, a former garda, pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour towards his wife Ashley Masterson over a three-year period from January 2019 to July 2022 in Westmeath. The woman had made complaints to gardaí in Mullingar, and the court heard that Reynolds locked her in or out of their home, controlled their finances, installed a tracker on her phone, and recorded their conversations. At Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Keenan Johnson imposed an 18-month sentence suspended for eight years, ordered €10,000 in compensation, and required 18 months of probation supervision and anger management counselling. Reynolds was dismissed from An Garda Síochána in August 2026, and he also entered a plea to an unrelated charge of falsifying a vehicle change-of-ownership document.
Sentenced2 Oct1 report from irishtimes.com
- No. 0012
Former garda sentenced for coercive control of wife in Westmeath
Coercive control · Westmeath
Victim: Ashley Masterson, Irish woman (judged from name)Ashley MastersonSuspect: David Reynolds, Irish man (judged from name)David ReynoldsDavid Reynolds, a former garda from Mullingar in Co Westmeath, pleaded guilty to coercively controlling his wife Ashley Masterson, a woman, between 1 January 2019 and 18 July 2022. The control involved tracking her, controlling her finances, using a phone tracker, and making 13 hours of audio recordings of arguments. At Mullingar Circuit Court on 2 October 2026, Judge Keenan Johnson sentenced Reynolds to an 18-month suspended sentence, suspended for eight years, ordered him to pay €10,000 in compensation to his former wife, and required him to complete an anger management course. A separate charge of falsifying a change of ownership document to avoid motor tax resulted in the Probation Act and a €1,000 payment to the Garda Benevolent Fund.
Sentenced2 Oct1 report from rte.ie
- No. 0213
Mark Conway sentenced to seven years for stabbing former friend seven times over €20 horse bet in Athlone
Assault causing serious harm · Westmeath
Victim: manSuspect: Mark Conway, Irish man, 40 (judged from name)Mark ConwayMark Conway, a 40-year-old man from Athlone, stabbed a former friend seven times in the abdomen and arm on 1 March 2025 in Marine View, Athlone, Co Westmeath, over a €20 horse bet the two had placed together. The victim lost consciousness and required keyhole surgery after his liver was sliced and his gallbladder removed. Conway, who was on bail for an earlier attack on his ex-partner and had 26 prior convictions, pleaded guilty to causing serious harm and other charges connected to the knife attack. He was sentenced in October 2026 to seven years with 12 months suspended, running consecutively to a five-year, three-month sentence imposed in January.
Sentenced2 Oct1 report from irishtimes.com