Man jailed for 10 years for organising vehicles used in tiger kidnapping

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that cash-in-transit employee Reginald Shannon was forced to hand over €134,000 to armed gunmen in January 2010 after his mother and young niece had been kidnapped.

Detective Inspector Barry Walsh said there was no evidence that Melvin had been present during the robbery, but the investigation had linked him to the vehicles used in the raid.

Melvin, a trained mechanic with an address at Somerville, Ratoath, Meath, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit a robbery between October 13, 2009 and January 4, 2010.

He is currently serving a four year sentence for possessing firearms.

       

Det Insp Walsh told Tara Burns SC, prosecuting, that Brinks Allied staff member Mr Shannon was met by two armed gunmen as he was walking his dogs about 5.30am on the January date.

These men accompanied him back to his home, where his mother and nine-year-old niece were still asleep in bed. The raiders bound the two females’ hands with cable ties, brought them outside and laid them under a duvet in the back of a Toyota Verso people carrier.

Mr Shannon was secured into a Renault Kangoo van with a ratchet and strap and forced to drive around Dublin, until the raiders in the vehicle directed him to the back of a Bank of Ireland.

The court heard there was a Brinks Allied van there to make a delivery. Mr Shannon approached his colleagues and explained it was a tiger kidnapping and his colleagues handed over two money bags of cash.

Det Insp Walsh told the court that Melvin’s phone number was tracked back to the Toyota Verso, the Renault Kangoo and a third van used in the tiger kidnapping.

Melvin was arrested and made admissions about purchasing the various vehicles before he ultimately failed to show for his trial in June 2012.

The court heard that two men were previously acquitted of the tiger kidnapping due to legal issues that arose in their trials. Another individual pleaded guilty to providing gardai with false information and received an 18 month prison sentence.

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Shannon revealed that though the event didn’t have a profound psychological affect on him, it did impact his sense of security.

He said he didn’t return to work because his mother and niece had suffered greatly to date.

His mother, Angela Shannon, described in her victim impact statement how she suffered from anxiety and depression, couldn’t leave the house on her own and had lost out on socialising because she was always on edge.

The now teenage niece said she had been hospitalised because of the psychological trauma and that she used to relive the kidnapping daily in her mind. She said the crime had destroyed her life.

Det Insp Walsh agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that his client was not the main organiser in the operation.

He further agreed that Melvin had not been known to him prior to the investigation.

Michael O’Higgins SC, also defending, submitted to Judge Martin Nolan that his client’s plea of guilty had significant value as it spared court time and the victims having to give evidence.

He submitted that Melvin had been chosen because he was in the car trade and could source vehicles.

He said Melvin came from a respectable family and had the support of his parents and siblings. Counsel handed up a number of testimonials, including a letter of apology from Melvin.

Judge Nolan accepted that Melvin was not the brains of the operation but said the father-of-one was a vital part as vehicles were needed to commit the crime.

He imposed a ten year sentence to run concurrently to the four year sentence he is already serving.