2026-06-30
'Wouldn't be out of place in a Tarantino movie': Lunney kidnappers challenge sentences for 'animalistic' torture and abduction
Stage: Appeal
Outcome: Kevin Lunney, subjected him to "animalistic" levels of "protracted torture" and carved the letters QIH into his chest in an act of "lawlessness incarnate" have argued their sentences were excessive and "out of kilter" with comparator cases. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions however, said the Special Criminal Court had "met fire with fire" in a lawful way by imposing sentences that reflected the "depravity and horror" of the attack, which he described as "animalistic, supremely choreographed and meticulously planned." Garret Baker SC, for the DPP, said the carving of QIH into Mr Lunney's chest was an act of "gross and engineered depravity" designed to send a message not only to the victim but to his fellow company directors.