Ireland ultimately deported Chico Makamda. But success measured only at removal ignores what preceded it: 19 recorded convictions, two documented attacks on women, repeated sex-offender reporting breaches and a direction to leave that did not produce departure.
The first documented warning
In August 2013, Makamda followed a woman walking alone on Blessington Street at about 2am, grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her into a laneway. She fought him off. He pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and received three years with the final year suspended.
That hearing also exposed an earlier conviction in Tralee for indecently exposing himself to two teenage girls. Makamda disputed that he was the offender, but Garda witnesses identified him.
A second woman, another confined space
On 16 April 2018, he blocked a woman in her early fifties behind bins in Adare Lane, punched her in the stomach, caused her to fall and strike her head, attempted to pull down her jeans, repeatedly tried to get on top of her and exposed himself. Her wallet and phone were missing after he fled.
He pleaded guilty to sexual assault, false imprisonment and robbery. In March 2019, Judge Melanie Greally imposed seven and a half years with the final two and a half suspended, plus a concurrent four years for sexual assault. The suspended portion was conditional on him leaving Ireland within 14 days of release.
Released, still here, repeatedly arrested
Makamda was released on 13 January 2022. He did not leave. Ten days later he was arrested for failing to provide information required by the Sex Offenders Act. Further arrests followed in April and June. At the revocation hearing, Garda evidence said immigration officers had tried to help him depart. Judge Greally returned him to prison for two years.
His identity history was confused. A 2015 report called him an Angolan refugee. In 2022, the court heard that he claimed to be Angolan but the Angolan embassy did not recognise him as a national. By 2024, Irish and Congolese officials had secured the documents required to remove him to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The discrepancy is part of the record and should not be flattened into a false certainty.
Chronology
- 2009: Later reporting placed the beginning of his Irish residence.
- Before 2015: Indecent-exposure conviction involving two teenage girls.
- 7 August 2013: Blessington Street false imprisonment.
- 19 May 2015: Effective two-year sentence imposed.
- 16 April 2018: Adare Lane sexual assault, false imprisonment and robbery.
- 5 March 2019: Effective five-year sentence with a leave-Ireland condition.
- 13 January 2022: Released but did not leave.
- January–June 2022: Repeated arrests over sex-offender notification duties.
- 25 July 2022: Returned to prison for two years.
- 7 June 2024: Deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The cost benchmark
The three reported sentencing outcomes contain effective custodial components totalling nine years: two, five and two years. At the 2024 average of €99,072 per staffed prison space, the gross benchmark is approximately €891,648.
The enforcement failure
The removal itself deserves credit. It also fixes the delay in plain sight. The sentence anticipated departure within 14 days of release, yet more than two years elapsed before deportation. During that interval the State arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned and monitored him again.
- Was removal assessed after the 2015 conviction?
- Before the 2022 release, did the State possess an order, confirmed identity and travel documents?
- Why was a direction to leave used where escorted removal from custody might have prevented non-compliance?
- Which agency owned the release-to-removal plan?
- What changed so another high-risk offender cannot leave prison before documentation is ready?
The warning is institutional: when removal is necessary, identity, documents and escorts must be settled before release, not reconstructed through another cycle of non-compliance and imprisonment.
Sources
- An Garda Síochána, 8 June 2024 — official deportation and 19-conviction total.
- The Irish Times, 5 March 2019 — Adare Lane offending and sentence.
- Irish Examiner, 19 May 2015 — Blessington Street and earlier conviction.
- Waterford Live, 25 July 2022 — departure breach and repeated arrests.
- Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2024 — cost benchmark.