Foiled robbery lands 'amateurs' in jail
Three amateur robbers from the 'Keystone cops' era whose planned armed raid on a Securicor van at the Lucan Spa Hotel was foiled by gardaí have received a total of 12 years in sentences.
Anthony Fox (aged 35), of Corduff Park, Blanchardstown who was the purported getaway driver was "a very bad one who struck a sign in Lucan on his way to the scene", his defence counsel, Mr Martin Giblin SC, told Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
"This is not a good idea when you are on a criminal errand," said Mr Giblin who described the total operation as "having the flavour of the amateur rather than the professional hardened criminal".
Mr Giblin (with Mr Cormac Quinn BL) also noted that Fox had difficulty manoeuvring a stolen Mitsubishi Space Wagon with different number plates at back and front into a hotel car space and then left the engine running, drawing the gang to the attention of vigilant gardaí.
Fox, and his accomplices, Derek O Shea (aged 46), and Shane Morgan (aged 25), of Wellview Avenue, Mulhuddart pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation fire arm on April 18, 2005.
Morgan also admitted to being in possession of a canister of CS gas that was found on his person at the garda station. A charge of unlawful use of a stolen vehicle against Fox was taken into consideration.
Morgan was sentenced to five years in prison by Judge Delahunt who described him as the "author of this enterprise" but she suspended the last three years on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour for five years on his release from prison.
She sentenced O'Shea and Fox to four year and two year jail terms respectively but suspended the last two years of each sentence on the same conditions as that imposed in Morgan's sentence.
Judge Delahunt said she was satisfied that this "was not an enterprise of very great planning and that there were elements of the amateur about it".
She said she also took into consideration that they were caught with "significant items of a criminal nature" and said if it were not for the intervention of the gardaí, "a very significant criminal activity" could have taken place which would have put Fox, Morgan and O'Shea "further up the criminal ladder".
Judge Delahunt said that probation reports before the court were very positive and she was also impressed with the lengths each of them had gone through since their arrest to deal with their addictions.
Detective Garda John Byrne told Mr Damien Colgan BL, prosecuting, that a Securicor van that was due to collect money was under garda surveillance at the Lucan Spa Hotel when attention was drawn to the suspicious Space Wagon that had different registration plates on the front and back.
The driver had trouble manoeuvring into a parking space and then left the engine running with nobody getting into or out of the vehicle.
When gardaí approached it they noticed that one man sitting in the back seat was wearing a balaclava and a subsequent search of the car revealed a hammer, a knife, an imitation hand gun, gloves and balaclavas.
Det. Gda Byrne said that the vehicle had been stolen the previous night and Fox accepted responsibility for driving it. The front registration plates was the correct one while the back plate was a fake.
He said that Morgan, who made a number of admissions during a subsequent garda interview, pleaded first at a court date in March, while O'Shea and Fox elected for a trial date, which they later vacated.
O'Shea had 12 previous convictions, including non-violent theft and burglary charges and possession of drugs at Kingston Court in England and a District Court conviction in Ireland for handling stolen property.
Fox had four previous convictions for road traffic offences and forgery of a prescription, while Morgan also had four previous convictions for road traffic offences and public order.
Det. Gda Byrne agreed with Mr Giblin that Fox's lack of skill as a driver drew the gang to garda attention in the first place.
He accepted that Fox was the weakest link in the chain and although he had a cocaine addiction he had an exemplary work record, having been employed at the Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown until it was closed due to structural problems with a leak.
It was further accepted that Fox had expressed "genuine regret" for his involvement and that due to financial pressure he "stupidly went along with it".
Det. Gda Byrne agreed with Mr Gerry O Brien SC, defending O'Shea, that the handgun was not capable of discharging ammunition and was not designed to do so.
He accepted that O'Shea made admissions to gardaí at the scene where he admitted it was "the first time I ever got involved in a robbery". He also told gardaí at that stage that he had hepatitis C and that all he wanted was money for his family.
Det. Gda Byrne agreed with Mr Sean Gillane BL, defending Morgan, that he told gardaí it was the gang's intention to rob the Securicor van.
He said he wasn't aware if Morgan had a drug addiction at the time but accepted that he told gardaí during interview that he used cocaine.
