Pair jailed after ‘targeted’ robbery in Cork

Jail terms of three years and three-and-a-half years were imposed on two men who carried out a robbery at a house in Bandon they believed contained a large amount of cash.

Judge Helen Boyle imposed a sentence of four years with the last six months suspended in the case at Cork Circuit Criminal Court against Larry O’Connor of An Duiche, Scahelene, Tipperary, to run consecutively to a 12-year sentence being served for an unrelated crime. Patrick Harty of Mountain View, Bansha Rd, Tipperary, received a sentence of four years with the final year suspended.

Judge Boyle noted that the duo arrived at the scene of the burglary in Bandon on January 21 in a powerful Audi A3 car with cloned registration plates. Inspector Andrew Lyons said there had been a number of burglaries in Munster in January. An operation was put in place. The two defendants and three accomplices arrived in Bandon from Cashel in the Audi. The five had been recorded at a petrol station in Cashel earlier that day.

On their way from Cashel to Cork, they stopped and put false plates on the vehicle. The men were captured on CCTV driving up and down the street for 40 minutes before they broke into the unoccupied house at 4.50pm on January 21.

Harty, aged 27, O’Connor, aged 32, and a juvenile broke the lock to get into the house. Insp Lyons said when the Emergency Response Unit went to the house, Larry O’Connor ran out the front door holding a crowbar. He collided with a garda and dragged him down three steps before he was restrained.

O’Connor was on bail at the time of the offence in relation to an aggravated burglary in Limerick, for which he received a 12-year prison sentence.

Insp Lyons said Harty tried to get away from gardaí via a back window. He also violently resisted arrest.

A litre bottle of Dettol was found in the Audi, and gardaí believe it would have been used to clean the house of evidence. Gardaí believe the car was purchased for the sole purpose of committing crime. Insp Lyons said: “It was a targeted burglary. Not random or opportunistic.”

Ray Boland, SC, defence senior counsel, said O’Connor was “genuinely remorseful” for his actions. Jane Hyland, SC, said Harty suffers from anxiety and depression. Both men have pleaded guilty to burglary and possession of articles, whilst Mr Harty also entered a plea to a charge of criminal damage. 

They brought €150 to court to pay for the broken lock at the house.