Courts / Cork / Report
Ex-HSE worker with no history of crime who raided post offices to visit US fiancée won't face higher sentence
Summary
Fintan Tindley, a 50‑year‑old former HSE worker from Cork, pleaded guilty to a series of post office robberies and an attempted robbery in November 2022. He used a knife to threaten customers and postmistresses at South Douglas Road and Ballintemple post offices, taking €2,380 and €1,300 respectively, and later attempted a third robbery at South Douglas Road but fled empty‑handed. Tindley had sent about €19,000 to his fiancée Skye in the United States, money that included proceeds from the first two robberies; she was unaware of the source. He had also borrowed money from a credit union, An Post, and from two pensioners. The Court of Appeal dismissed the State's application for a higher sentence, upholding the trial judge's decision of five years' imprisonment with the final 12 months suspended, after a detailed review of mitigating and aggravating factors.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Ex-HSE worker with no history of crime who raided post offices to visit US fiancée won't face higher sentence. Charges or matters: the robbery of South Douglas Road Post Office in Cork on November 11, 2022, attempted robbery of the same post office seven days later and of the robbery of Ballintemple Post Office in Cork on November 16, 2022. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- November 11, 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 16, 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 18, 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2024-03-13 Publication
Why: At the sentencing hearing, Detective Garda Kevin Motherway told the court that Tindley had travelled to the US twice in 2022 in order to visit his fiancée, a woman called Skye. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: the robbery of South Douglas Road Post Office in Cork on November 11, 2022, attempted robbery of the same post office seven days later and of the robbery of Ballintemple Post Office in Cork on November 16, 2022 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: At Cork Circuit Criminal Court in June last year, Judge Colin Daly sentenced Tindley to five years' imprisonment with the final 12 months suspended. At the Court of Appeal today sitting in Cork, Paula McCarthy BL for the State, submitted that Tindley had received sentences that were "unduly lenient, taken in their totality". "There were two robberies and an attempted robbery, three threats to kill or cause serious harm and three productions of a knife," said counsel.
Places mentioned
- Loughmahon Avenue
- South Douglas Road
- Douglas
- At Cork Circuit Criminal Court
- Cork
- Court of Appeal
- South Douglas Road
Topics
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