A man who twice damaged the same house while mistakenly believing that a relative lived there has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Evan Sherlock, 29, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to criminal damage.
The court heard that gardaí received a 999 call on October 21 last year after Sherlock threw a brick through a window of a house and also kicked the front door, causing damage.
The incident was captured on CCTV and gardaí observed him standing at the front door.
On January 9 this year, a similar incident occurred at the same address and further damage was caused to the front door.
The victim was present in court, and Judge Michele Finan read her victim impact statement. The judge said the offences had a huge impact on her and noted that the incidents were not isolated.
The court heard that the woman had lived at the address for 30 years and had no idea why her home had been targeted, but said the accused appeared to focus on her house in particular.
Judge Finan said the victim had been left fearful and traumatised by the incidents.
The court heard that Sherlock had 117 previous convictions.
Defence solicitor Holly Laher said her client was incredibly apologetic for what had happened.
Counsel said Sherlock had psychiatric difficulties and, at the time, believed the property belonged to his aunt, even though the address had no connection to him.
The court also heard that he had been abusing substances for some time, was sleeping rough, had significant mental health difficulties, and was vulnerable.
Ms Laher said Sherlock had been in custody since the previous month and was trying to stabilise there. She said he was now clean of all substances.
Judge Finan said that while the mitigation was taken into account, the court also had to consider the trauma caused to the victim and the extremely serious effect the incidents had on her quality of life.
She imposed two consecutive nine-month sentences, backdated to last month.
Addressing the victim, the judge said she hoped she would be able to find some peace and expressed regret for what had happened to her.