Tiger kidnap thugs caged for 53 years
Gang jailed after family held at gunpoint in €2million raid
FOUR heartless thugs have been sentenced to a total of 53 years for their roles in a €2million tiger kidnapping.
The trial was told how Paul Richardson, his wife Marie and their two teenage sons Ian and Kevin were threatened at gunpoint in their home in March 2005.
Former Securicor workers Mark Farrelly, 47, Christopher Corcoran, 71, David Byrne, 45, and 36-year-old Niall Byrne were convicted by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury last May.
During sentencing yesterday, Judge Greally said the raiders “burst” into the Richardsons’ home on “a normal Sunday evening” and used differing items to conceal their identities, including make-shift balaclavas using a school jumper and a pillowcase belonging to the family.
Referring to the victim impact reports, the judge added: “It is clear to me this normal and happy family had their lives upended by the actions of the accused.
“All sense of normality, security and joy was replaced by fear, anxiety, anger and frustration.”
She said the number of trials the family have been required to face has made their recovery “excessively difficult”.
RESPECT
Judge Greally added: “Their uncommon and unbending faith in the criminal justice system is worth enormous respect.”
The gang forced Mr Richardson, who also worked for Securicor, to go to work the next day while his wife and their sons were held at gunpoint in the Dublin mountains until he had delivered the cash to a car park in the west of the city.
This hearing, which began in January, was the fifth time the case went to trial.
Judge Greally sentenced Niall Byrne, Crumlin Road Flats, Dublin, to 10 years in prison.
He was considered the “inside man” in the gang and had been convicted of conspiracy to rob.
She noted he would have a more difficult time in jail as he has two brothers who are prison officers.
The jury convicted Farrelly, Corcoran and Byrne of robbery and false imprisonment of the four Richardsons.
Farrelly, of Moatview Court, Priorswood, Coolock, who was considered the mastermind of the gang, was sentenced to 17-and-a-half years behind bars.
His phone was used to co-ordinate the movements of the various gang members.
Corcoran, of Rosedale, Raheny, who was a “scout” during the kidnapping, driving ahead of the van to make sure nobody interrupted the process of the kidnap, was sentenced to 12 years. Judge Greally said she was suspending the final five years having taken into account Corcoran’s age and very poor state of health.
She also noted he had a good employment history and didn’t have serious previous convictions.
Corcoran was also given credit for the 34 months he has previously served in prison.
David Byrne, of Old Brazil Way, Knocksedan, Swords, who was one of the two men in the jeep that brought the Richardsons to the mountains, was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in jail.
Mr Richardson read his victim impact statement during a sentence hearing last Monday. He described the crime as “heinous and inhumane” and said it was committed for “one reason only, greed”.
Mr Richardson said he spent his 60th birthday in court, having just given his sworn testimony for the fifth time.
He added he could not leave the court after giving his evidence because he promised his family” “I would keep going until justice prevailed”.
Mr Richardson said: “I lost a part of my life that night and I will never get it back.”
Marie, Ian and Kevin Richardson also described in victim impact statements, read into court by Seamus Clarke SC, how the kidnapping affected their lives.
Mrs Richardson said the home they had made “for ourselves and our boys” was destroyed that night.
She told how she had go back to full-time employment as her husband struggled and was unable to return to work for three years.
Mrs Richardson added: “I took a stand that we would rebuild our lives. I had to push the family along.
“It was very hard being strong for everyone,”
Kevin Richardson, who was 13 years old when his home was raided, said that night had followed him “like the plague”. He added he would wake up shouting in his sleep and said his life had been disrupted.
Ian Richardson’s victim impact statement said the look of fear in the eyes of his father, mother and brother would never leave him.
Speaking outside the court yesterday, Mr Richardson admitted: “Today my family and I have got justice for such a horrific and inhumane crime.
“I would like to thank all our friends and family.
“At long last it is over but we will never forget March 2005.”