Stefan Saunders jailed for conspiracy to commit robbery

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Stefan Saunders, Francis Murphy and Damien Noonan were each sentenced to 10 years in prison, with the final two-and-a-half years suspended, at Trim Circuit Court on 12 June 2018. The sentences related to events at Dunboyne, County Meath, on 7 October 2016.

Saunders and Murphy pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances. Noonan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of stolen property.

For the conspiracy offences, each man received a 10-year sentence with the final two-and-a-half years suspended. Saunders and Murphy also each received a concurrent six-year sentence for the firearms offence, with the final year suspended. Noonan received a concurrent four-year sentence for possession of stolen property, with the final year suspended.

Each man appealed against the severity of his sentence. The Director of Public Prosecutions sought reviews of the sentences on grounds of undue leniency.

In a judgment delivered on 12 April 2019, the Court of Appeal dismissed both the severity appeals and the applications for review. The court held that the sentences fell within, though at the very limit of, the trial judge’s discretion.