Judge hands 'tiger' kidnappers lengthy jail sentences

Mark Farrelly (aged 37), of Moatview Court, Priorswood; and Jason Kavanagh (aged 34), of Parslickstown Court, Ladyswell were jailed for 25 years each. Christopher Corcoran (aged 61), of Bayside Boulevard North, who the judge said was “one league removed from the other men”, was jailed for 12 years.

In a lengthy speech, Judge Hunt paid tribute to the Richardson family for enduring their ordeal and the subsequent trial which was the longest criminal trial in Irish legal history.

“These are examples of the best type of people in our society in contrast to the spineless criminals who carried out this crime,” he said.

He congratulated them, particularly Ms Marie Richardson for her “character and bravery” in supporting her family during and after the raid.

He also expressed the hope that the family could move past their ordeal but noted Mr Kevin Richardson was clearly a “damaged man”.

“I express the sincere and profound hope that the passage of time will help him get past this. However he is not, and will not be, the same man as he was before March 13, 2005,” Judge Hunt said.

Judge Hunt commented on the recent spate of tiger kidnappings calling them a “foul and repulsive cancer … and like any such disease when it is located it must be aggressively treated”.

He said he believed the cash from these robberies is being used as “seed capital” for the importation of large amounts of drugs or guns for criminal gangs. He also noted they did not target the senior bank officials “who maybe be responsible for some of our financial woes”, but ordinary families in their homes.

He expressed concern that this was another case where “pay as you go” phones were used which were unregistered to their owners. The evidence showed a large amount of phone traffic between the men as they carried out the operation.

He said the phones were then disposed of in a “deliberate and determined manner” except for Corcoran’s which was later found by gardaí in his home.

The judge also commended the jury who convicted the men following a three-month trial for their patience and “superhuman concentration”. He further congratulated Inspector Paul Scott and his investigation team for compiling the evidence against the men.

The three men had denied robbing €2.28m from Mr Paul Richardson and Securicor and had also pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning members of the Richardson family - Ms Marie Richardson and her sons, Ian (then aged 17) and Kevin (then aged 13) - on March 13 and 14, 2005.

The maximum sentence for the offence is life imprisonment. Judge Hunt said the raid warranted slightly less but if the men had used their weapons or had been any more violent, he would have had no hesitation in imposing the full term.

He said he based the sentences on 11 factors including the “almost military planning” of the raid and the “violent degradation by the inhuman monsters who forced their way in there that night”.

He also took into account that once the gang had got the money they did not call Mr Richardson as promised to tell him his family were safe.

He said the evidence showed Kavanagh and Farrelly had started celebrating prematurely by getting drunk in a pub instead of having the “simple human thought” of calling Mr Richardson. He also noted the pair took a trip to Spain shortly afterwards which he believed was to move the money offshore.

Judge Hunt said there were very few mitigating factors but he took into account that all the men had families and both Farrelly and Corcoran were in poor health. He said Corcoran had played the lesser role of a “look out” and seemed close to assisting gardaí when interviewed.

Before sentencing began, Farrelly’s defence counsel, Mr Ciaran O'Loughlin SC, said that a story which appeared in last week's Sunday World newspaper was a clear attempt to put pressure on the Judge to impose a lengthy sentence.

Judge Hunt said he took a “very grave view of this” but added: “I’m long past the stage in my life where I pay a blind bit of notice to what the Sunday World has to say.”

Inspector Paul Scott told prosecuting counsel, Mr Dominic McGinn BL, that Ms Marie Richardson was in her home with her son Kevin when they heard a knock on the door.

She assumed it was her husband who had gone to pick up their other son Ian from football practice. When she opened the door four masked men forced their way into the house.

One of them grabbed her by the throat and forced her up against the wall before she and her son were led into the sitting room.

One of the men was described as extremely heavily built and wearing a boiler suit which did not fit so he was forced to tie it around his waist. Another man was “sweating profusely” as he confronted the family.

The men then brought in a box containing a Uzi submachine gun, revolver, a knife and a Polaroid camera.

A short time later Mr Richardson and Ian arrived home and were also brought into the sitting room.

When Ian saw the scene he had a panic attack and had to be given a paper bag to breath into. One of the raiders, armed with the revolver took Mr Richardson into a back room and told him that they wanted him to do.

Mr Richardson later told gardaí the man seemed to have intimate knowledge of Securicor procedures and phraseology such as “buster button”. He also had what was either a Securicor walkie talkie or a Garda frequency scanner.

Mr Richardson agreed to do what the raiders told him but before he left the family were seated on the couch with an armed raider either side of them.

Polaroid pictures were taken of the raiders pointing their guns at the family. These pictures were then given to Mr Richardson so he could show his co-workers to prove his family were in danger.

Inspector Scott told Mr McGinn that raiders took the Richardson mother and sons to a secluded area called Cloon Wood in Co Wicklow, leaving Mr Paul Richardson to spend the night captive in his home.

He said two raiders took Marie, Ian and Kevin Richardson up a path in the woods prior to their release and bound their wrists with cable ties, which Kevin later cut using a small knife on his keyring, till the pair got a call to say the €2.28m had been deposited.

Mr Richardson told gardaí he was confined mainly to the downstairs living room but that he heard snoring coming from his son’s bedroom during one accompanied trip to the bathroom.

Inspector Scott said this tied in to forensic scientists finding Kavanagh’s DNA on a pillow case which was used briefly by the armed men as a makeshift balaclava.

He said Mr Richardson travelled early to work the following morning and got his work colleagues to help him carry out the job for the gang by showing them the Polaroids of him and his family at gunpoint.

Inspector Scott said the drop-off point at the Anglers Rest Pub in Lucan was out of public view. He said Mr Richardson drove slowly towards Mullingar after he had deposited the cash, expecting a call from the raiders to say his wife and children were safe.

The Inspector said Mr Richardson was “in a state of collapse” when he finally stopped driving and Securicor told him over the radio that his family was unharmed.

Inspector Scott said the family continue to suffer anxiety and post traumatic stress four years after the robbery and that Mr Richardson feels “the old Paul is dead” and a more serious, anxious and alert man is in his place.

He said Mr Richardson feels particularly vulnerable when he hears of other tiger kidnappings in the media.

Inspector Scott told Mr McGinn that the garda investigation focused heavily on mobile phone contact between suspects using cell site analysis and that there was “significant” phone activity between Corcoran, Kavanagh and Farrelly on March 13, 2005.

Gardaí found a pair of boots similar to those of the raiders in Kavanagh’s home, while the stolen Jeep owner’s yellow florescent jacket was found at Farrelly’s house.

The Inspector said retired Eircom worker, Corcoran, acted as a “scout” in the operation by frequently contacting the different parties to place them over the course of the night and the following morning leading up to the drop-off.

Inspector Scott told Mr McGinn that Corcoran had two previous convictions, including possession of an offensive weapon.

He said Kavanagh had 20 previous convictions dating back to 1993, including handling stolen property, forgery and assault, while Farrelly had six previous convictions including burglary and assault.

He said there was “a strong connection” between the three men and evidence that Farrelly and Corcoran travelled to Spain together immediately after the robbery.

Mr Shane Costelloe, for Kavanagh, submitted to Judge Hunt that his client played an “active role” in caring for his children before his incarceration as his wife is in poor health.

Mr Aidan Toal BL, defending Corcoran, submitted that his client’s role was to be a “scout” for the gang. Judge Hunt replied that the evidence showed he was more of a “scout leader”.

Mr Toal said he could not argue against the “perspicacity of the jury” but took issue with their verdict and intended to appeal.

He said Corcoran was in poor health and “any sentence could be his undoing”. Judge Hunt noted he had been of some assistance to gardaí and at one stage seemed to be on the verge of a full confession.

Mr Costelloe said Kavanagh suffered from chronic diabetes. He said that while he had 20 previous convictions, they were all for minor offences and he had never been in prison except for a three-month sentence imposed in 1994.

He said he had been a boxer and represented Dublin and Leinster at senior level. He had also been a boxing instructor and active member of his local club.

Mr Costelloe submitted that Kavanagh was “no fool” and knew he was going to jail and this was causing serious distress to his wife and children.

Mr Ciaran O’Loughlin SC, representing Farrelly, said his client was not involved in physically threatening the family and had expressed sympathy for their ordeal.

He said he had two young daughters, one of whom suffered from a medical condition.