Financial advisor behind plan to rob businessman who was 'barbarically' beaten is jailed

A former financial advisor has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment at the Special Criminal Court following his conviction for orchestrating a robbery targeting a Mayo businessman. William Twomey, aged fifty-eight, was found guilty of assault causing harm, robbery, and demanding money with menaces in connection with a December 2017 attack on Edward McAndrew at Omeath, County Louth. The victim was lured to the location under false pretences regarding plant machinery and was subsequently assaulted with iron bars before being robbed of cash, vehicle keys, and personal items. Twomey, formerly of Warrenpoint, County Down, initiated contact with McAndrew using a fraudulent email account. The court heard he had blamed McAndrew for previous legal proceedings. Presiding Judge Tony Hunt acknowledged Twomey's previously respectable background and suspended the final year of his sentence. The judge noted mitigation including Twomey's disclosure to gardaí that he believed McAndrew faced danger, though this disclosure was incomplete.