Three men arrested when gardaí foiled a planned armed robbery of a cash in transit van in Co Meath have been given 10 year prison sentences.
Francis Murphy (39), of Carranstown, Drogheda Road, Duleek; Stefan Saunders (40), of Hazelbury Park, Clonee; and Damien Noonan (32) of Rusheeney Court, Hartstown, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to conspiring on dates between August 26th, 2016 and October 7th, 2016 to commit robbery.
Murphy and Saunders also pleaded guilty at Trim Circuit Court to carrying an 8mm Makarov handgun at Yeats Centre, Navan Road, Dunboyne on or about October 7th, 2016 with intention to commit robbery. Noonan pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen BMW on the same date.
The court heard that gardaí had monitored the men’s movements as they planned the would-be €2 million robbery.
Det Supt Justin Kelly told Shane Costello SC, prosecuting, that gardaí had Saunders and Noonan under surveillance on four Fridays in August and September 2016 as the pair drove from Dublin to Dunboyne, where they watched as a cash in transit van made deliveries to an ATM at a disused building.
Tampered
On three other dates the defendants tampered with a window and an alarm in the ATM room so they would be able break in undetected. The court heard the room had a movement sensor alarm but the men pushed it under a ceiling tile so it would still appear to be working but would not detect movements.
On the day of the planned raid Noonan left Dublin at 2.30 am and drove his accomplices to Dunboyne. He then helped Murphy and Saunders climb in the window of the ATM room, where they lay in wait for the security van.
The drivers of the van and its tailing vehicle were warned by gardaí to stay in their cabs when they arrived in Dunboyne. When the van arrived, armed gardaí burst in to the room and arrested Saunders and Murphy. Noonan was detained nearby in the BMW. Gardaí saw Saunders throw away a loaded handgun.
All three defendants had walkie talkies, mobile phones and double sets of latex gloves. Saunders was wearing body armour at the time.
Neither Saunders nor Noonan answered gardaí when they were later questioned but Murphy said he had made “a huge mistake”.
Judge Michael O’Shea said it had been a very professional crime up to the arrival of the van carrying the money. He sentenced them to 10 years in prison with 2½ years suspended.