Man's Right Ear Cut Off With Scissors During 6-Hour Dublin Home Invasion

A member of a group that attacked and brutally tortured a middle-aged man in his Dublin home in 2018 has been sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison.

Sam Maughan, 26, has pleaded guilty at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to causing serious harm to Whitefriars Gardens, Dublin 8 homeowner Mark Burke, 43, the Irish Times reported.

Maughan admitted to being one of four assailants that invaded Burke's Ireland apartment on August 1, 2018, and took turns maltreating and seriously injuring the victim. Burke had suffered extensive blood loss and numerous deep cuts and stabs to his head, face, torso, and limbs after the six-hour ordeal, as well as a severed right ear.

The incident occurred after Burke allowed a group of people into his home after his daughter asked if she could have some visitors over. However, as the situation got out of hand and the group started to cause trouble, Burke asked them all to leave, said Garda Detective Mark Dennehy in a statement.

The victim's daughter and her female friends left Burke's home, but four young men refused to leave and barricaded the homeowner's front door.

Confronting the middle-aged Burke, one of the home invaders smashed a glass bottle against his head, splitting his lip. Burke was then forced into the sitting room where the group continued to mob him and batter him with bottles, Dennehy told Prosecutor Gerardine Small, court reports noted.

Burke was subjected to a series of stabs and lacerations before one of the four attackers took a pair of scissors to the victim's right ear and crudely severed it. Burke was then forced into the bathroom by the group where the 6-hour home invasion continued.

The victim was coerced into the bathtub as they turned on the taps. A mirror was then broken over Burke's head as the group also used a toilet cistern to hit him in the face and legs. At one point, one of the attackers forced a charger chord down Burke's throat while threatening “you are dead tonight,” court documents show.

According to Dennehy's investigation, Maughan was not the "ringleader" of the group as he didn't initiate the violence and assault. Maughan, who was homeless at the time, was reportedly also pressured by the "leader" to take part in the mugging. The convicted Maughan allegedly no longer participated in the torture done on Burke in the bathroom.

The group left Burke's home around 9 a.m. after the night of the incident. The three others in the attack remain unidentified and at large, confirmed the Garda.

Irish law enforcement was called to the scene after Burke's neighbors spotted a group of men covered in blood fleeing the area. An unconscious Burke was discovered lying face down outside his flat around 10 a.m. and was rushed to St. James’s Hospital.

The bloodied Maughan was apprehended after being found drunk and crying at a hostel later that day. He admitted to stabbing a man in the chest and arms, as well as taking cocaine. He was arrested as the blood staining on his clothes matched that of Burke's.

Maughan faces 88 convictions involving offenses for possession of knives, false imprisonment, robbery, assault, and public order. Judge Martin Nolan described the incident as “a deeply disturbing case," as he imposed a 7 ½ year jail term on Maughan for his “really bad behavior.”