Courts / Dublin / Report
Jail term increased over role in 'cold-blooded assassination' of 'big friendly giant'
Summary
Lorcan Merriman, aged 26, had his sentence increased by two years after the Court of Appeal reviewed his conviction for disposing of the firearm used in the cold‑blooded assassination of Thomas Farnan, a 37‑year‑old who was shot dead at his home in Clondalkin on 25 April 2016. Merriman had previously pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of disposing of a firearm and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended. The appeal court found that the original judge had erred by reducing the sentence from the appropriate six years with 18 months suspended to four years with 18 months suspended, and therefore quashed the original sentence and substituted a six‑year term with 18 months suspended. The decision was based on evidence that Merriman's dwelling had yielded a submachine gun, two magazines and 25 rounds of ammunition, and on his extensive record of prior convictions from 2014 to 2019.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Jail term increased over role in 'cold-blooded assassination' of 'big friendly giant'. Charges or matters: the lesser charge of disposing of the firearm; two counts of the possession of firearms and ammunition in suspicious circumstances. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- April 25, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 2018 Incident
- July 2018 Incident
- 2016 to 2019 Incident
- 2023-01-19 Publication
Why: Mr Justice Birmingham said: "That decision is at the heart of the present application to review, because the Director [DPP] says that the judge erred when he went on to reduce the sentence originally indicated as appropriate, by reference to the principle of totality, and did so to such an extent that the respondent ultimately received a sentence of shorter duration than he would have received if the instant sentence had not been made consecutive. CNI source report
Case subjects
Accused
Charges: the lesser charge of disposing of the firearm; two counts of the possession of firearms and ammunition in suspicious circumstances (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Merriman, who the court heard had spent almost one quarter of his life in custody, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended. Mr Justice Birmingham said that the trial judge initially identified a headline sentence of eight years for disposing of the weapon used in Mr Farnan's murder, "but then having regard to the factors that he saw as aggravating and mitigating, the sentencing judge indicated that the appropriate sentence was one of six years imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended". "The trial judge determined to make the sentence consecutive to the five-year sentence earlier imposed on Merriman due to the seriousness of both offences," he said.
Places mentioned
- Central Criminal Court
- Court of Appeal
Topics
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