A man who broke a priest's nose with the leg of a bar-stool and held him prisoner in his own home was yesterday jailed for 10 years for robbery. A jury took just 45 minutes to find Leo O'Regan (25), of 20 Knightscourt, Old Youghal Road, Cork, guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.O'Regan denied robbing Father David Murphy of Arderrin Way, The Glen, Cork, of £108, a video recorder and a remote control on October 3rd, 1995.The court was told O'Regan and another man, Seamus O'Brien, who had already been convicted of the offence, forced their way into Father Murphy's house at about 10.40 p.m. Both men were masked, and O'Regan hit Father Murphy with the bar-stool across the face, breaking his nose and cutting his head. A knife was later held across Father Murphy's throat.The priest had told the court he had lost a lot of blood and feared for his life as O'Regan hit him. "I decided it was easier to give them everything in the house rather than to die," he said.He managed to escape as O'Regan and O'Brien were bringing him to a nearby sacristy. He recognised O'Brien through his mask but not O'Regan, he said.O'Regan said he was babysitting with his girlfriend, Ms Melissa Devereux, at the time of the attack. He had only gone out that night to get some drink. Ms Devereux corroborated his story. Judge Murphy was told that O'Regan had 18 previous convictions including burglary, forgery, public order offences and drug offences. Det Sgt Tom Myers told the court that O'Regan was due to appear at a previous sitting but absconded. Asked if he could say anything in O'Regan's favour, he replied: "I don't think so." Judge Murphy said, given that he had jailed O'Brien - who had pleaded guilty to a similar charge - for six years, and that O'Regan was the ringleader, the minimum sentence he could give him was 10 years. He backdated the sentence to February 21st, 1997, when O'Regan was taken into custody after absconding.He refused leave to appeal both conviction and sentence, but granted leave to apply for free legal aid in the event of an appeal.