Gang attacked and attempted to rob woman in her own home
The gang were sentenced at Waterford Courthouse.
A woman was attacked and violated in her own home by a gang looking for drugs.
The attack occurred at an address in Waterford City, where two women and two men subjected the victim to a vicious assault.
Nadia Halligan (33), Niall Keegan (29), Louise Quigley (35) and Luke Fennessy (30) were arraigned at Waterford Circuit Court in January this year.
Halligan and Keegan, both of 18 Thomas Street, pleaded guilty to committing assault contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, against a woman, attempted robbery and burglary of an apartment on June 13, 2025.
Quigley, of Greenbank Apartment, Mary Street, pleaded guilty to assault, attempted robbery and the burglary.
Fennessy, of 118 Clonard Park, pleaded guilty to the assault on the woman, attempted robbery and burglary at the aforementioned apartment.
Last week at Waterford Circuit Court they received three-year prison sentences.
Upon sentencing Judge Eugene O’Kelly said: “All of these offenders are here as a result of a shocking day. The assault on [the victim] was extremely nasty and vicious as one could imagine. The gang held her down and prevented her from escaping. While holding her down, Nadia Halligan wore blue latex gloves when she inserted her fingers into her vagina. The victim was threatened to not go to the Gardaí.
“This attack happened at nighttime at the home of someone they knew perhaps had drugs. The victim is herself a drug user, therefore she is a vulnerable person.”
The Court heard that Halligan was a 33-year-old grandmother who had a childhood blighted by abuse and addiction. She had 34 previous convictions.
Keegan, then Halligan’s partner, fell into drug addiction in his late teens and is currently living in a drug-free prison. He had 46 previous convictions. Quigley had 58 previous convictions, including 27 theft offences. Fennessey had 68 previous convictions, including an arson charge.
