The Court of Appeal has dismissed challenges by the Director of Public Prosecutions and three men to sentences imposed over a planned cash-in-transit robbery in Dunboyne, County Meath.
The court found the sentences were lenient and at the very limit of the trial judge’s discretionary range, but not so lenient as to justify intervention. It also dismissed the men’s appeals against severity, describing them as without merit. The judgment was delivered on 12 April 2019 by Birmingham P., with the President, McCarthy J. and Kennedy J. listed on the court panel.
The men were sentenced in the Circuit Court in Trim on 12 June 2018. Each received ten years’ imprisonment, with the final two and a half years suspended, for conspiracy to commit robbery. The two identified in the judgment as Stefan Saunders and Francis Murphy also received concurrent six-year terms, with the final year suspended, for possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances. Damien Noonan received a concurrent four-year term, with the final year suspended, for possession of stolen property.
The DPP sought reviews on grounds of undue leniency, while each man appealed against the severity of his sentence. The Court of Appeal said the case involved organised, professional criminality and that none of the sentences could be regarded as severe. It nevertheless concluded, with “very considerable hesitation”, that they remained within the range available to the sentencing judge.
The judgment described Garda surveillance after intelligence about plans to rob a cash-in-transit van. It said Noonan and Saunders were observed carrying out reconnaissance between late August and 7 October 2016, including watching cash deliveries. The court also recounted three instances of interference with the disused bank premises in September and October.
Gardaí entered the premises in the early hours of 7 October 2016. The judgment said Saunders threw down a loaded Makarov pistol, while Murphy had a crowbar. It also described disguises, walkie-talkies and equipment intended to reduce forensic traces. The sentencing hearing was told that the ATM held €85,000, €150,000 was being delivered and the van carried €2 million. The defence argued that the €2 million figure overstated the potential proceeds of the operation.
The DPP argued that the sentences did not reflect the planning, potential yield and firearm. The men’s lawyers argued that the sentences were not unduly lenient and were, if anything, too severe. Murphy’s counsel also submitted that he joined the planning late and that his role and personal circumstances warranted a lower sentence. The Court of Appeal did not alter the sentences.