A man has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for car-jacking a vehicle belonging to a consultant psychiatrist and his pregnant wife, while armed with a machete.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Gerald Keys jailed Declan Sherlock (24), formerly of Dromard, Ennis, Co Clare, for offences associated with the car-jacking of Dr Narayanan Subramanian and his wife, Anju Sara Alex, four days before Christmas in 2017.

Sherlock was on High Court bail at the time of the offence and as a result, the two-and-a-half-year jail term is consecutive on a two-year jail term imposed on Sherlock for a feud-related assault.

In a separate case at Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Keys sentenced Declan Sherlock and his brother Damien Sherlock (27), formerly of Dromard, to two years with six months suspended in each case for their role in an attack on taxi driver Abi Ohiku on June 9, 2017.

Their younger brother Jordan Sherlock (19), formerly of Dromard, Ennis, was also jailed for three years, with the final 18 months suspended, for his part in the incident.

Jordan Sherlock, who was 17 at the time, stabbed Mr Ohiku six times with a penknife near his former home at Dromard.

Mr Ohiku was set upon by four members of the Sherlock family in a dispute over a fare. Their father, James Sherlock, avoided jail and received a two-year suspended sentence for his role in the attack.

Judge Keys described the attack as "vicious and completely unwarranted".

The Sherlocks' victims were not in court for the cases yesterday.

Damien Sherlock has 110 previous convictions, Declan Sherlock has 24 and James Sherlock has 21.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Ohiku said to them: "What kind of human beings are you to bring such inhumane treatment on me?"

Mr Ohiku said that he thinks "about my blood, that was gushing from the six stab wounds that you have inflicted upon me, every day and I have not been able to erase that from my head and mind".

Mr Ohiku said: "The ninth of June is a day I will remember for a long time - the beating and stabbing that you inflicted on me in the attack that night has left me with huge physical and psychological problems."

In the separate machete case, which occurred six months later in the same Ennis estate of Dromard, Declan Sherlock held the machete up to the stomach of Dr Subramanian.

In his victim impact statement read out at Ennis Circuit Court previously, Dr Subramanian said: "This man made one of the best days of our life after the scan of our unborn on that day into one of the worst we could have ever imagined in our life."

Sherlock pleaded guilty to nine separate charges from the incident, including hijacking the car, threatening to kill Dr Subramanian on Ennis's Lahinch Road at the Dromard housing estate, criminal damage, possession of a weapon and dangerous driving.

Sherlock was on bail at the time, having secured High Court bail after being refused bail in the district court in relation to an assault causing harm charge.

In his victim impact statement, Dr Subramanian said: "It baffles me to this day to find out after his criminal activity that this man had a few convictions in the past, was on bail, after being refused bail initially, and skipped bail a week earlier only to threaten to stab his innocent neighbours and steal their car to crash it, whose only fault was being his neighbour."

Irish Independent