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: Harte's legal team said today that his 30-year term was "a life sentence by a different name", while O'Brien and Redmond's lawyers suggested the sentences imposed on their clients were too high and failed to properly consider mitigating factors. Mr O'Higgins said a distinction had to be made "between an engineer and his rag", arguing that Harte, O'Brien and Redmond "were not the brains directing" the plan and were not "the people attempting to reap rewards". "Imposing a sentence of 30 years is, to my mind, a life sentence by a different name," said Mr O'Higgins. "The sentence here is excessive and there are identifiable errors," he said.