Courts / Clare / Report
Drug dealer to serve a consecutive 27 years after shooting that 'terrorised the public'
Summary
Tony McInerney, a convicted drug dealer and leader of a large network in Co Clare, was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court to a consecutive 27 years in prison. The court heard that McInerney, who pleaded guilty in July to the attempted murder of Daniel Harty Junior in Sixmilebridge in January 2020, will serve a 17-year term for that offence. This sentence runs consecutively to a ten-year term he is already serving for running a cocaine factory, a sentence originally set at 12 years but reduced by the Court of Appeal. McInerney also pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and making threats to kill, receiving five years for each charge to run concurrently with the attempted murder sentence. The judge described the incident as "gangland thuggery and violence," noting that the attack, allegedly linked to a drug debt and personal animosity, terrorised the public. An innocent bystander was shot in the buttock, while Harty Junior suffered three gunshot wounds, losing the use of his left arm. The judge highlighted the planned nature of the crime, involving a vehicle stored for a month, and the indifference shown to bystanders. McInerney's previous convictions and the high level of criminality necessitated the consecutive sentencing structure.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Drug dealer to serve a consecutive 27 years after shooting that 'terrorised the public'. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- January 18, 2020 Incident
- January 1, 2019 Other
- 2023-10-23 Publication
Why: He only survived because the shots marginally avoided any major organ," he said, going on to say that McInerney had displayed a "measure of indifference" to the lives of other bystanders by discharging multiple shots from a moving vehicle. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Tony McInerney, who the court heard today was the leader of a large drug network in Co Clare, was initially jailed for 12 years after being caught running a "cocaine factory" in 2020 but the sentence was later reduced to ten years by the Court of Appeal. On the charge of attempted murder, the judge imposed a sentence of 17 years, with five years each on the reckless endangerment charge and the charge of making threats to kill, to run concurrently.
Places mentioned
- Central Criminal Court
- Court of Appeal
- Sixmilebridge
- Gort
- Gort Road
- Ennis
- Pound Street
Topics
Drugs Stage Appeal Violent Crime
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