Chinese national handed life sentence for murder
A Chinese national who shot and murdered a Kilkenny Post master just two days after he took over running the post office from his father who died of cancer has been given a life sentence.
Shu Shen (aged 25) formerly of The Old Rectory, New Ross, Co Wexford was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Alan Cunniffe (aged 32) and 10 years in prison for the robbery of the post office at John’s Green, Kilkenny and possession of a fire arm with intent to commit the robbery, when he appeared in the Central Criminal Court at Dublin this morning.
Mr Cunniffe’s brother Declan began to cry as he told the court December 8, 2006, the days immediately afterwards, the year that followed and reliving the last moments of Alan’s life during the trial had been the darkest his family has had to face.
Mr Cunniffe had taken over running the Centra and Post Office on John’s Green, a family business, just two days before he was shot.
“Our dear mum has had to deal with so much. The passing of our father after a battle with cancer was extremely tough for all our family but the death of Alan, the unexpectedness, the brutal circumstances in which he was taken from us are almost beyond belief.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court Mr Cunniffe’s brother said his mother Muriel and father Tom had provided a loving home for their eight children where love, honesty, education and hard work were to the fore and Mr Cunniffe, a twin, had big shoes to fill when he took over running the business.
“He took the challenge with enthusiasm and gusto.”
His family sitting in the public gallery quietly cried as he read the statement, jury members who found Shen guilty on Monday and returned for his sentencing also in tears.
His brother had gone to work that day the same as so many of us do, Mr Cunniffe said.
“Then at midday our world crumbled. Alan, our family, and our business were attacked and robbed. As everyone knows now Alan paid the ultimate price trying to defend that family business.”
“Given the hurt our family has suffered I can only admire the level of compassion our mum can find within herself to recognise that the man who has done this awful act is some other mum’s son.”
Mr Justice Paul Carney heard Shen arrived in Ireland three years ago on a student visa, studying English in Limerick, and later sought asylum staying in the Ormond Street Hostel in Kilkenny, which was how he knew of the post office.
Mr Paul Coffey SC, for Shen said the 25-year-old from China was “all alone” in the world with no siblings, no knowledge of where his father was and no contact with his mother.
The court heard on December 8, 2006 Shen travelled on a bus from Dublin to Kilkenny with a backpack filled with a balaclava, hammer, knife and an air pistol he had modified to take .22 rounds.
He went into the post office just after 12pm, covered with the balaclava and brandishing the gun in one hand and knife in the other.
Shen made off with €13,760 in his bag but as he went to leave the post office Mr Cunniffe arrived and tried to stop him leaving the post office then chasing him down Kilkenny’s Wolfe Tone Street.
Outside Padmore and Barnes Mr Cunniffe tried to grab the bag off Shen who fired the gun into his abdomen before fleeing and leaving Mr Cunniffe bleeding on the footpath.
Shen was arrested a short time later and told gardaí it was an accident and he needed the money because he did not get an allowance and could not get a working visa.
“To most people these types of situations are things of fiction, what you see on TV or in the movies. Unfortunately it seems that these types of circumstances are becoming more and more common place within our society,” Mr Cunniffe’s brother told the court.
Mr Cunniffe died in St Luke’s Hospital at 3.13pm the same day.
The court heard another brother Thomas was sitting an exam today and could not be at the sentencing, so Mr Alex Owens for the DPP read his victim impact statement to the court.
The day before Mr Cunniffe was killed he had thought about calling him to talk about a new baby in the family but he decided to wait until he saw him.
“I constantly think back to that moment and feel so helpless that I didn’t get to speak to him one more time.”
“It plays on my mind every day that I didn’t get to say goodbye to my brother,” he said.
His family was shrouded in darkness following Alan’s death and the family home was now a place he just slept at weekends.
He spent his summer working at the family shop and walked past the place his brother died almost daily.
“I can’t bring myself to think what he must have thought or felt when he saw the gun.”
“A part of me died that day with Alan and I know that for the past year I have been a shadow of my former self. Over night my family became public property and I felt helpless about it.”
He said he felt proud the carry his father’s coffin but to carry his brother’s was just wrong.
“Alan was a giant of a man with a heart to match.”
Mr Coffey said Shen wished to apologise to the Cunniffe family and he asked Mr Justice Carney to take into account Shen’s youth, the fact he has no previous convictions and his pleas of guilty to the robbery and possession of firearm charges.
“He is alone in the world with no support from family or friends,” Mr Coffey said.
Mr Justice Carney sentenced Shen to the mandatory life in prison for murder, back dated to December 8, 2006 and on both counts of robbery and possession of a firearm with intent to commit robbery he sentenced him to 10 years in prison to be served concurrently.
Leave to appeal was refused.
