‘Numb’: Former Hawkesbury Mayor Patrick Conolly’s anger following costly home invasion

The former mayor of a Sydney council who was stabbed in a home invasion two years ago has lashed out at the sentences given to his attackers, saying he and his wife are still grappling with the impact of the crime.

The former mayor of a Sydney council who was stabbed in a home invasion two years ago has lashed out at the sentences given to his attackers, saying he feels “numb” at the result and that he and his wife are still grappling with the impact of the crime.

Then-Hawkesbury Mayor Pat Conolly was injured when the group burst into his family home on May 16, 2022, armed with knives and a gun.

Mr Conolly and his wife were held at gunpoint and the former mayor was slashed on his arm in a tussle with the intruders, while they went room to room in his house ahead of stealing a vehicle and iPads.

One of the attackers, Joseph Morgan-Thomas, was sentenced last month at Parramatta District Court by Judge Siobhan Herbert to four years and four months in jail.

He will be eligible for release in July 2025 after serving a two year and 10 month non-parole period.

Former Hawkesbury Mayor Patrick Conolly was injured in a home invasion. Picture: Damian Shaw

The man had previously pleaded guilty to one count of specially aggravated break enter and commit an indictable offence and one count of being in company robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon.

Stealing a motor vehicle and being carried in conveyance taken without consent of the owner charges were taken into account during sentencing.

Three minors were also sentenced regarding the matter.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Conolly said it was “difficult to adequately articulate the terror, dread and panic of this situation...having no idea who these people were or why they could possibly be in my house”.

Detailing the incident, he said he had little memory following the men bursting into his bedroom, saying “my wife has told me that after jumping out of bed I approached the men and began fighting with them in a clearly very futile attempt to protect my family (home)”.

“My next proper memory is of being pushed to the ground and my wife screaming at me to stop fighting back before they killed me. I was bleeding profusely but at that point still hadn’t realised I had been stabbed as the adrenaline was coursing through me,” he said in the statement.

Former Hawkesbury Mayor Patrick Conolly pictured with his wife Jessica. Picture: Damian Shaw

Mr Conolly, speaking out for the first time following the sentencing, told The Telegraph the lingering impact of the attacks was still affecting him and his wife.

“My wife is still on medication and dealing with PTSD,” he said.

“I’ve never in my life felt unsafe in my home and community, and since then I’ve never quite felt safe.”

Mr Conolly also took aim at the sentencing – saying the outcome that some of his attackers will get out of jail in months had made him feel “numb and just completely shocked all over again”.

“It just feels so disrespectful...I felt like I was in a horror movie that night, but at the end of a horror movie the police catch the perpetrator and lock them away – ours ended with the judge giving him a slap on the wrist,” he said.

“What was the point of spending so much time and police resources?”

The attack also cost him his burgeoning political career, with the incident occurring months after he had been re-elected to council as mayor.

He stood down as mayor following the attack and has confirmed he won’t run for re-election to council later this year.

“You can’t underestimate the time, money and effort that goes into a local government campaign,” he said.

“I didn’t feel like I was in the right headspace (to be mayor), to have to come to that decision felt incredibly unfair, to be put in that position by other people.”

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Originally published as ‘Numb’: Former Hawkesbury Mayor Patrick Conolly’s anger following costly home invasion