"Sadistic monster" jailed for fifteen years

An elderly couple who were subjected to a horrendous litany of abuse have been left penniless, terrified and isolated by a son best described as a “sadistic monsterâ€. Offaly natives, John (71) and Elizabeth (70) Trimble were held captive and tortured without reason by their son John (39) Jnr over a five month period at the family home in Bolart, Clara, Co. Offaly. John Trimble's own defence counsel, Colm Smyth SC described it as “an extremely disturbing case; not only abnormal, defying the laws of nature.†The abuse was uncovered when two HSE nurses made a complaint to gardaí, having been refused access to the house in Bolart on July 17, 2009, following a tip off from a family member. The nurses returned with gardaí and after a 40 minute stand off, the two HSE nurses and garda members were granted access to the Trimble home. As the screaming alarm drowned out all other sounds, Sgt Jer Glavin discovered the starving terrified naked elderly couple huddled in bed. “They were naked and they were lying on a bed, they appeared to be very much frightened and in a distressed state,†said Sgt Glavin. On surveying the house, Sgt Glavin noticed there were “very little items in the way of food stuffs.†He said an alarm was “ringing constantly†and “penetrating, even for meâ€. The elderly pair were rushed to hospital where they would recuperate for nine days. A subsequent doctors report revealed they had lost three stone in weight each. Their other son Damian and daughter Jacqueline were notified. Damian lives abroad while Jacqueline had been refused access to her parents on a number of occasions. A week after their removal from the house, the elderly parents were interviewed by gardai at the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore. Mrs Trimble, who suffers from diabetes, told gardaí her son had deprived her of clothes and food. He had hit her, forced her to take cold showers and insisted she carry out house work while naked. “Her son, on almost every morning, whether it be 6, 7 or 8am would force her to get out of bed,†Sgt Glavin explained. She would then be forced to take a cold shower before being left in the bathroom to drip dry. “John Trimble Jnr would open the back door and would allow a cold breeze enter the house. She expressed that she was frozen with the cold,†he remarked. Following this ordeal, John Jnr would send her out in the elements to a laundry shed at the rear of the house, said Sgt Glavin, “she would remain naked and he would instruct her to put on a laundry.†The elderly woman was also forced to wash the kitchen floor on her hands and knees with detol wipes while undressed. “She would plead with him to allow her to put on clothes,†added Sgt Glavin. On one occasion he forced her into a scalding hot shower. As a result she was treated in hospital for burns to her neck. The woman also received a black eye when he punched her in the face. “He would blame her by saying she brought it on herself,†said Sgt Glavin, “some days she used to be hungry, she often felt weak, she suffers from diabetes.†“On Friday he would allow Mrs Trimble to leave the house for the purpose of collecting her pension,†Sgt Glavin explained. Although she often thought of running away, Mrs Trimble felt she couldn't because of her fear of what might happen to her husband, who had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Her husband John Snr told Gardaí of “his shame at what was going on in the houseâ€. He too was refused clothes and forced to shower and drip dry. When going to the toilet or in his bedroom his son would not permit the closure of the door. John Jnr told him “he hoped he would roll up in a ball and die of cancer.†“If Mr Trimble senior would touch anything he would force him to take a shower,†explained Sgt Glavin, “the only liquid available to him was 7up.†“His wife got a new pair of shoes and the accused would direct to her the particular areas she was allowed to walk.†When she stepped in the wrong area John Jnr “threw them awayâ€. Mr Trimble said his wife cried after this incident. He was denied access to a phone or contact his daughter. He was not allowed to watch television. John would not feed him and when he was fed it was normally only with biscuits, he told gardaí. When John senior's sister, Betty Dempsey died in Mullingar, he was not allowed attend either the funeral or the removal. Mr Trimble was also prevented from attending his grandson's communion. The youngest son Damian Trimble read a victim impact statement written by the couple. “We both feel unable to trust people as we did before and we are racked by guilt for not attending my sister's funeral,†stated John Snr. “We live in a constant state of fear,†they said,“our daughter has to call to our apartment on a daily basis to reassure us.†The couple have physically recovered and are living in an apartment outside of Offaly. They have lost their financial independence and rely now on welfare and hand outs, â€as old age pensioners we find our situation depressing,†they remarked. They had hoped to spend their “twilight years†living in comfort in their home, “instead we have had to move away from the community we spent our whole life in.†As well as being left penniless, the Trimble's said the ordeal had “left us feeling humiliated and embarrassedâ€. While offering no defence and having been found fit to enter a plea, John Jnr said: “I've done very wrong judge and I am sorry and if I could turn back time I would.†He told the court: “I am like a hermit, just on my own. I have no-one to talk to anymore,†adding: “I am sorry, I really am, I love them to bits and I know I may never see them again.†Defence counsel, Colm Smyth SC told Judge Kennedy: “I'm instructed not to offer any excuses for his behaviour.†He asked Judge Kennedy to “take into account the fact that he had pleaded at the earliest opportunity†and said, “it is a case where the accused man's behaviour betrays natural behaviour in the extreme.†Sentencing John Trimble to 15 years in prison at Tullamore Circuit Court last Friday, Judge Anthony Kennedy said: “I've spent 40 years prosecuting, defending and judging cases of every sort and I thought I had seen it all - well I haven't.†“What's particularly disturbing in this instance is the fact he isn't mad,†he added. The evidence in the case was he said, “enough to leave anyone aghast at such evil...this sadistic monster in the care of his parents...with depravity at every turn.†He accused the defendant of “wallowing in self pity†and expressed surprise that, “there is no evidence that there is anything at all the matter with this man's mentality.†Speaking after sentencing, Inspector Kieran Keyes appealed to anyone with concerns about an elderly neighbour, family member or friend to contact the HSE or gardaí.