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A MAN WHO pulled off the mummified head of an 800-year-old ‘Crusader’ from a crypt and stole it has being jailed for 28 months.
After his arrest Brian Bridgeman (36) told gardaí that he woke up in the crypt in St Michan’s Church, Church Street, Dublin and didn’t know where he was.
“I thought I was dreaming, it wasn’t reality,” he told them.
He said he didn’t remember damaging the coffins and skeletons and said he was “was out of my head” on alcohol and Xanax tablets.
After leaving the church he fell asleep in town and realised when he woke up again that he had two skulls in his bag.
He said he panicked and wanted to bring them back but was afraid of being caught. He said didn’t think it was funny.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that a few weeks later he left the skulls in a bag in a hedgerow on the church ground with a note stating “sorry RIP”.
Bridgeman of Fortlawn Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin was identified on CCTV in the area and later pleaded guilty to burglary of the vaults between 23 and 24 February last. He also admitted five counts of criminal damage, including two of damaging a dead body.
The court heard that the crypt’s tour guide discovered the break in on 25 February and that the outer wrought iron doors were opened and an inner metal door was pulled down.
A lock on the Hamilton family vault was damaged and one coffin, at the bottom of a stack of three others, was broken with parts of the coffin on the ground.
He was horrified to find that the 300 year old mummy of “the nun” was interfered with. Some of the bones were broken and the head was set at an almost 180 degree angle to the body.
Another mummy had being turned to one side in its coffin and the crusader’s body was decapitated and smashed up. Another skull which had been placed on a coffin was missing.
Victim impact statement
In a victim impact statement Reverend David Pierpoint, vicar of parish of St Michans, said the burglary was devastating to clergy and parishioners.
He said the parish relied on income from tour guides of the crypt and from parishioner’s donations and the break in resulted in a loss of €35,000 in revenue and €15,000 on repairs and security.
Michael Hourigan BL, defending, said his client deeply regretted what he did due to it being a crime against the heritage of the local area. He said that Bridgeman was deeply ashamed of desecrating human remains.
Hourigan said he comes from a good family, but started falling into addiction at a young age. He said his client has had mental and behavioural disorders as a result of this addiction.
Judge Martin Nolan said Bridgeman was in some stupor induced by alcohol and drugs but said this was not an excuse.
“These skulls represent a lot to people of religious belief,” he said. He said that the sight of one hacked from their bodies caused considerable distress .
“I suspect he is a menace at times,” said Judge Nolan in reference to Bridgeman’s history of previous convictions.
Judge Nolan said that looking at Bridgeman in court “it is difficult to analyse his behaviour”. He concluded by saying that a church is a particular place of significance to people of faith and that the accused should not have burgled the church.
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We paid back CJ Haughey’s loans, we endured 80′s & 90′s tax regimes, we met medical consultants pay demands, we are still paying for the bank guarantee, and now we have to endure supporting bank bonuses A-N-D support tracker
mortgages. I wish I lived in country that supported people who have worked & contributed & paid into society. AND I’M ONLY 51?!?
IT MUST BE ANOTHER COUNTRY that deserves us. NOT HERE!!!
@Smidgen Dublin:
Well said.
Sad reality is that the dead dying horse gets whipped here about 6-10 times per life cycle. Anyone who chooses to live here really deep down knows that. The inequality matched with the Marxist government policies makes Ireland a laboratory for populist globalist experiments. Henceforth we are rats and the result is Tralee,, Mallow and Portlaoise..
@Ron: do you know that you pay 0% income tax under communism? There are also no unemployment benefits. Everyone who can work has to work. For the same reason there are no landlords- no money for scratching your balls, and a company owner only gets paid what he actually generates rather than half of what his workers make as well. In summary, nobody is allowed to freeload. I wouldn’t call our govt Marxist…or most of our so called left. They pander to freeloaders like property owners or other layabouts on welfare. Workers are screwed.
@SC:
Understood
Duel policy exists here where one productive class props up the unproductive
@Smidgen Dublin: we’ve a free vote here. We get the government we deserve. Don’t like it. Vote them out. Sure FF will be back in charge in no time.
@SC: let us know how they pander to landlords given they have increased charges and punishments to landlords.
@Smidgen Dublin: You should read up on countries like libya before it was destroyed. and the standard of living for the people they had. capitalist nut
@Smidgen Dublin: the banksters brought us down with implicit government backing.
I used to watch those c##ts sashay into the Merrion, head for the Leinster room, one even looked like Zorro, red lined cloak, wide brimmed hat, a fraudster in disguise joining the rest of them, how can we gut the country today?
@helen walsh: the people taking out loans with false pay slips, secret credit union loans, more than they can afford etc… have no responsibility. So the guy I know who did this and bought a 7k TV and car with the mortgage for his house was cheated? Personal responsibility has more to do with than you are letting on.
Fraud or not?
@William Bryan:
Absolute fraud
And all at the same time …… no coincidence!
@William Bryan: there appears to be a lot of “believes” and “feels” they were ripped off … its incredible people do not read what they sign or get what was ‘apparently’ agreed in writing before signing. There are certainly individuals who are mift they messed up by missing the tracker rates and are taking the pi$s now with solicitors jumping on the bandwagon
@William Bryan: not fraud. The banks had contracts that they believed covered the ending of tracker mortgages. A court case was brought and declared that it wasn’t clear enough and invalid. When we looked at changing our mortgage they warned us we would lose our tracker. Most people were told this but the ruling meant they could get it back with compensation. While you hear stories of people being tricked they are very one sided.
@iohanx: Theres no “believe ” or ” feel ” about it , the 4000 people had in their contract that at the end of the fixed rate period ( which they started their mortgage on ) that they would be offered a choice of tracker or variable rate . The banks during this time withdrew trackers and as a result reneged on offering the 4000 people the choice of a tracker . Now they’ve made up this prevailing rate figure which they say justifies why they didnt offer the 4000 people a tracker – that they were nice to people by offering them a cheaper variable rate ( the highest in europe ) instead . AIB are basically chancing their arm and saying to people fight us legally if you want – knowing most people are scared of losing in the courts with the costs that would entail.
Abandon hope all ye that enter here!
This is Banksters heaven where the laws protect them!
The mortgage crisis is starting all over again now… but without trackers and massive interest relief. When the next crash happens, people will be repaying double what those on trackers were!
@Mucky Pup: And the stock exchange can’t wait for it to happen! Nothing they love more than a crash.
@Mucky Pup: banks in the uk have started 100% mortages again..
@Michael Heery: there is nothing wrong with 100% mortgages. We got one over 11 years ago. We were sensible about it though and only went for what we knew we could afford. People need to take personal responsibility also. The tracker mortgage scandal is a disgrace though
@Caroline Reid: there is absolutely nothing wrong with 100% mortgages. Not everyone is lucky enough to get help from family with a deposit, which is virtually impossible to save for and also pay rent. The people who constantly bash the full mortgages are the half wits who never had to rent and try and save a deposit at the same time, who also don’t realise how money works.
Has anyone contacted a solicitor and actually gotten more from them than the standard compensation? Just asking for a friend
@Kay English Curtin: bankcheck Northern Ireland is what my friend recommended to me.
@Kay English Curtin: yes…. my understanding is the figure you receive is broken down into 4 parts…
1. the actual amount overcharged
2. a legal fee set figure.
3. the value of the money IF you hadn’t been overcharged….a value is given as ” time of money”.
4 the compensation.
# 4 is the only variable really…a figure is set by a ‘ independent 3rd party”…but you are well within your rights to challenge this
I’ve posted two comments that have not been accepted. I only hope it’s due to general anger at this scandal & hipocracy.
@Smidgen Dublin:
thats the journal controlling the levels of anger, it’s why they did away with the red thumbs in the comments section
Does anyone know why the mortgage rates are so much lower in Europe? It’s very frustrating in Ireland that your savings effectively lose value year on year with interest on savings so low, and yet interest on loans is not that low.
@SC: we don’t let homes to be repossessed easily generating extra liability and costs. Similar problem with rent where tenants can stay for over a year and not pay rent.
@Kal Ipers: Good points…so you reckon the high variable rates here are as a result of the ‘ pracically’zero repossision rates here…i had never looked at it from that angle before.
The banker’s don’t have to fear any reprimand for the damage they do so nothing will change
The state needs to keep AIB under total state control, not “sell “it back to the banker buccaneers.
Given that it can generate profit for the state into the future, whilst operating to strict state set rules, why abandon that lever on the market?
Given that AIB was negligent in private ownership in 3 major financial cock ups which seriously damaged the economy, why let go of the reins?
Learn from the mistakes of the past please.
@William Kelly: Wait for the day after they sell off the banks, when a huge hole or liability comes to light.
Billions are on the line, but surely the new owners took this risk when they got it at a knock down price?
No it will turn out the Government overlooked a clause, stating Ireland will be liable to nake up the loss, and the Minister who by then is working for the bank will express surprise..
Tax payers get taxed, receivers will receive..
The banks in Ireland are toxic staff moral is on the floor they are nothing more than debt collectors. We need a new bank that issues proper loans at proper rates and is in the business of banking
If a new bank came in and people took out there deposits and moved different tune then
@Sean Duignan: for proper banking system we need to allow repossessions so that loans can perform. Not much of a business if banks have no recourse when somebody stops paying. It means loans have to have higher interest rates as those paying pay for those that don’t. Try opening a business where a percentage of your customers don’t pay and cost you money instead.
@Kal Ipers: the oxymoron in all this was the banks were given the funds to correct the issues but instead chose to hord. Take a look at how Roosevelt handle the crash of the 30′s and contrast it with here. The bankers got off to party again and people in difficulties got no assistance other than being thrown at the wall.
@Martin Critten: the banks were not given money for ongoing liabilities that could keep on appearing. They were given money for immediate issues and the government got paid in shares. Those shares have to retain and increase in value to pay back the loan. The money didn’t magically appear with nobody paying it back. Lots of people are under the misconception that banks were given the money for free and ignore the fact the government also need to pay it back.
If this was Social Welfare fraud, it would be all over MSM, people would be jailed, have to pay every cent back, and there would be no gentle questioning in front of a committee.
Bankers should be jailed for this crime that has seen people lose their homes, be driven into bad health, or commit suicide.
@Dave Doyle: prove the crime.
@Kal Ipers: I personally don’t have to prove anything. It’s up to judge and jury to do that. Not than any of these thieves will see the inside of a court.
People have lost their homes, been driven into bad health, driven into poverty, and suicide in all to many cases. None of this would have happened if the banks were happy with the contracted payments. But banks being banks, greed is the driving force.
Twist this whatever way you like, theft is theft, fraud is fraud, crime is crime.
Neoliberslism is at the root cause, as it is for many of the problems beggaring society. A neoliberal government approves, that’s why nothing will ever happen.
when will people of this country cop on . the banks etc have politicians fully in their pockets and we can expect no favourable legislation or governance from this cabal. at the height of the financial disaster for citizens ( not banks ) Kenny/noonan were feited by the banks where Kenny gladly told the banks paddy was stupid to borrow so much from them . obviously champagne and caviar helps you to lie.
the banks do not have to pay a penny to compensate tracker victims , no leo ,mehaul and paschal have arranged for the other banking victims ( variable rate paying 2 points higher than other europeanmortgage payers on money borrowed from same funds ) along with taxpayers to bail out banks for third time or is it fourth time .
1. bank bail out
2. subsidised investor purchases and bank compensation
3. tax free exemptions for investors
4. 2 percentage points above Europe on variable mortgages
5. tax free status for bank profits for 20 years
WELL DONE FINE GAEL AND FIANNA FAIL FOR SCREWING YOUR CITIZENS YET AGAIN
“Financial advisor Padriac Kissane said it raises concerns that the Central Bank has said it disagrees with the position of certain lenders, but can not force them through regulation to change the way they deal with this cohort of customers.”
LIKE THE CERVICAL SMEAR SCANDAL THE GOVT WE ELECT HAVE NO POWERS TO GOVERN , ITS DICTAT BY CRONIES NOT DEMOCRACY WE HAVE.
Fair Play to Padraic Kassane.
Always seemed like a genuine smart man in interviews & on tv. I think it’s fairly safe to say the bankers must hate him…hes had their measure for a long time.
Simply stop paying the mortgage if you are certain you have been wronged. They won’t be long sorting it out then. It really is that simple.
@Ronan Sexton: great advice get extra interest charges and put your home at risk. Nothing could go wrong
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