Courts / Cavan / Report

Member of notorious cross-border ATM theft gang fails in appeal

Summary

A member of a cross-border organised crime gang has failed in his appeal against a custodial sentence imposed for attempted ATM theft. Gerard Duffy, 32, of County Monaghan, was convicted at the Special Criminal Court in 2021 following a guilty plea to attempting to steal an ATM from the Riverfront Bar Restaurant in Virginia, County Cavan, in August 2019. He received eight years and nine months' imprisonment with the final year suspended. His legal team argued the headline sentence of eleven years was excessive and that a greater reduction for his guilty plea was warranted, given he had no serious prior convictions. The Court of Appeal dismissed the challenge, with Mr Justice George Birmingham finding the original sentence appropriate and the trial court had correctly assessed the offending as being in the lower range of the highest tier of criminality. The gang stole an estimated €790,000 from multiple ATM locations across Cavan, Meath and Monaghan between 2018 and 2019 using stolen plant machinery and vehicles.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Member of notorious cross-border ATM theft gang fails in appeal. Charges or matters: the attempted theft of an ATM at the Riverfront Bar & Restaurant, Main Street, Virginia, Co Cavan, on August 14, 2019; a further offence after his release from Garda custody; three offences connected to the same investigation; participating in criminal activities while in a Toyota Avensis at Tullypole, Moynalty, Co Meath on August 20, 2019 by participating in the movement of cash on behalf of a criminal organisation; attempting to commit an offence under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud) Act by attempting to steal the ATM and its contents at the Riverfront Bar & Restaurant; participating in or contributing to the possession of cash at Tullypole, Moynalty, on August 14, 2019, intending to facilitate the commission of an offence by a criminal organisation. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• August 2019 Other
• December 2021 Incident
• August 14, 2019 Incident
• December 16, 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
• April 19, 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
• August 20, 2019 Incident
• 2018 and 2019 Other
• 2022-11-11 Publication

Why: She said the 20 per cent reduction was appropriate because the guilty plea was not entered at an early stage. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal Theft

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Read the original CNI report