15 years for kidnapping
A man who participated in the tiger kidnapping of a family with a 10-week-old baby has had his nine year prison sentence increased to 15 following an appeal by prosecutors.
Mark McCarthy (32) of Elm Dale Crescent, Ballyfermot, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the false imprisonment of Warren and Jean Marie Nawn as well as their ten week old baby in Co Louth and Co Dublin between August 1st and 2nd 2011. Some €661,125 was taken from the Post Office in Drogheda, where Mr Nawn worked, none of which has been recovered.
McCarthy was sentenced to nine years imprisonment by Judge Patricia Ryan on May 19, 2017.
His sentence was found to be “unduly lenient” by the Court of Appeal on Friday following an appeal brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions and McCarthy was given a new sentence of 15 years.
Giving judgment in the three-judge court, Mr Justice George Birmingham said “thankfully”, there have been few similar cases in Ireland and, as such, few earlier sentences available as comparators. However, he said a sentence in the range of 22 years to life would have to be considered, absent any mitigation.
There was evidence that McCarthy had been acting under duress in relation to a drug debt and that there was a credible threat against his life unless he participated in the kidnapping.
Giving background, Mr Justice Birmingham said the injured parties were in their home on the night in question when the doorbell rang. When Mr Nawn went to answer the door he was met by a man with a scarf covering his face, carrying a pizza box in one hand and a short-barrelled gun in the other.
Ms Nawn had her baby in her arms when she saw the raider entering the sitting room. He was wearing gloves and was carrying a firearm. The raiders tied her hands and legs with duct tape and used duct tape to position the baby on her chest.
Mr Nawn was told that if he didn’t cooperate, those involved would “blow his wife’s head and the baby’s head off ” and that they would have to try for a new baby.
McCarthy was nominated as a suspect as his fingerprints were found on a piece of torn pizza box in a bag with ms Nawne’s Tesco club card. The bag was found in a suspect vehicle which had been dowsed with petrol and set on fire but the fire had been extinguished by a quick-thinking passer-by.
He had 125 previous convictions for threats to kill, burglary, possession of knives, assaults, theft and fraud offences, endangerment, public order and road traffic offences.