RAPIST: JOSEPH MCCABE
A GROUP of men patrolled the streets of a Donegal town last night in the hunt for a convicted rapist and his violent thug friend.
Self-styled vigilantes say they will no longer sit back and tolerate Joseph McCabe (29) and violent burglar Casey Morgan (18) living in Dungloe.
McCabe raped a 64-year-old woman in a sickening attack in Belfast. Morgan is so dangerous the PSNI took the unusual step of warning people in Belfast in March that he was a violence-addicted thug who was a danger to ordinary people.
But because of a loophole in cross-Border laws Gardai cannot put them away.
Officers did detain them nine days ago and brought them before Sligo District Court for breaching the terms of their early release from prison in the North.
However a judge released them on bail to an address in Dungloe – forcing them to leave a run-down caravan in nearby Burtonport.
Last night as news spread of the address where McCabe and Morgan were staying local men went on patrol.
“We’ll chop off their ****,” said one young man on the Main Street in the town.
“Everyone knows what they look like. There’s no way we should have to house a man who raped a pensioner and a violent burglar. No way; it’s not on.”
Fianna Fail Councillor David Alcorn admitted people were “frightened” as Gardai moved to assure residents they are monitoring the on the run convicts.
CASEY MORGAN: ‘EXTREMELY VIOLENT’ – SAYS PSNI
“There’s a real fear amongst the communities of Burtonport and Dungloe and it appears there’s nothing anyone can do,” he said.
Gardai are awaiting a European arrest warrant from the PSNI before they can bring Morgan and McCabe in again.
But that could take weeks.
“The people of this area won’t take this. Simple as that,” said one local man.
“The law is a joke – but we aren’t.”