Friday, March, 6 2026 - A 22-year-old Nigerian man has been jailed in Ireland for nine years after he subjected two students to an hour-long, terrifying ordeal where he and an accomplice threatened at knifepoint that they would cut off their fingers if they didn’t hand over cash and drugs.
Martin Ekhosuehi, of Willow Gardens, Glanmire, Co Cork,
had denied charges of aggravated burglary, assault causing harm, and making
threats to k!ll following the incident at the students’ rented accommodation on
Highfield Avenue, College Road, Cork, on July 2nd, 2023.
A jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court found Ekhosuehi
guilty on all counts.
He was sentenced on Wednesday, March 5, 2026 to 11 years in
jail with the final two years suspended by Judge Sinead Behan.
Investigating officer Det Gda Eoghain O’Callaghan had
previously told the court: “At 7pm on July 2nd, 2023, two young men at
Highfield Avenue, College Road, Cork, had to run to a neighbour’s house to
raise the alarm. They said two men had come through the front door by force.
"One of them was wearing an all-black tracksuit, black
ski-mask, blue latex gloves, and had a large chef’s knife with black handle.
"The second man was also wearing a black tracksuit,
black gloves, and had a flathead screwdriver. Both were demanding money,”
O’Callaghan said
The intruders ransacked the house, demanding to know where
cocaine and cash were located, the court was told.
The students were held at knifepoint and punched in the
head. One raider threatened them, saying, “I will start cutting off fingers, on
my mother’s life, if I don’t start finding something soon”.
“They took €30 in cash and took their phones. Both fled by
the backdoor. A glove was left behind and was forensically examined and found
to have a fingerprint matching Martin Ekhosuehi. He was also nominated as a
suspect by two gardaí who examined CCTV,” said the detective.
O’Callaghan explained that one of the victims was on
the phone to his girlfriend in Drogheda when the raid occurred.
She became so concerned by background sounds and the sudden
ending of the phone call that she alerted gardaí.
Gardaí arrived a short time later and knocked at the door,
announcing their presence by shouting through the letterbox.
Ekhosuehi and his accomplice warned the two students that
they would be k!lled if they tried to call out or answer the door.
When the two intruders later left the premises, the gardaí
were called again and they arrived to find the two students visibly shaken and
with cuts to their faces.
Both students described being punched and repeatedly
threatened that they would be k!lled, and they feared for their safety.
The court heard that Ekhosuehi had 14 previous convictions,
including three for having drugs for his own use, one for drug dealing, one for
money laundering, two for possession of knives, and one for production of an
article in the course of a dispute.
Sentencing, the judge said: “The accused had planned and
premeditated this crime and did so in a manner where they (the accused and his
unidentified accomplice) dressed to conceal their identity.
They came with a purpose. The hour must have felt like an
eternity. I have not had any indication of remorse or empathy with the
victims,” said Behan, noting there was limited mitigation other than
Ekhosuehi’s youth and the fact he had a supportive family.
She said the aggravated burglary merited a headline sentence
of 12 years, but she would reduce it to 11 years and suspend the final two
years in light of Ekhosuehi’s age.
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