Courts / Dublin / Report
Serial armed robber has jail term cut for on-bail bank raid
Summary
Dermot O'Callaghan, 58, a serial armed robber, had his original eight‑year sentence quashed and resentenced to seven years with six months suspended after the Court of Appeal found the judge had set an inappropriate headline sentence. The appeal was prompted by the fact that O'Callaghan was on bail when he participated in a 2017 raid on Ulster Bank's Stillorgan branch, during which a bank employee was threatened with a gun and forced to hand over €13,200 and £800. O'Callaghan pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to rob. He had 22 prior convictions, including armed robbery and firearms offences. The Court of Appeal ruled that the headline sentence should have been 11 years, reduced to nine years after mitigation, and imposed a consecutive seven‑and‑a‑half‑year term with the final year suspended.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Serial armed robber has jail term cut for on-bail bank raid. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- September 26, 2017 Incident
- July 2021 Incident
- 2024-07-17 Publication
Why: She said the sentencing judge set O'Callaghan's headline sentence higher than that of his co-accused because he was on bail at the time and the offence was committed while there was a suspended sentence hanging over him. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: He was sentenced in July 2021 by Judge Codd to eight years' imprisonment, with the final year suspended. As this sentence must be imposed consecutive to the sentence he was already serving, Ms Justice Kennedy said that the court would impose seven and a half years, with the final year suspended to aid rehabilitation.
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