A father and son have been jailed for a combined total of nine years following a series of despicable acts against elderly and vulnerable people.
James Hanrahan (46) and his 28-year old-son John Hanrahan were sentenced to four years and five years at Newry Crown Court on Wednesday for burglary, aggravated burglary, assault and driving offences.
John Hanrahan, of Nursery Drive in Newry, pleaded guilty to crimes in Crossgar, Moy, Middletown and Portadown.
James Hanrahan, of the same address, pleaded guilty to involvement in the incidents in Moy and Middletown, as well as entering a house in Hilltown and assaulting two people.
CCTV and DNA evidence linked the pair to the crimes, as well as two Audi cars.
On February 26, the pair carried out an aggravated burglary at a house in Moy.
Less than an hour later, the men were caught on CCTV before breaking into a house in Middletown.
On 7 March, James burgled a house in Portadown and on the same day the father was arrested near Forkhill following an incident in Hilltown, Co Down.
“The victims in some of these incidents were elderly and vulnerable,” said Detective Constable McAteer.
“I want to reassure everyone in our community that we will continue in our efforts to make Northern Ireland a safer place to live and work by proactively investigating and arresting people involved in criminality.
“I hope that the sentence today will act as a deterrent to others.”
