Man acquitted of imprisoning Dublin family in raid

One of four men accused of taking part in the kidnapping of a Securicor worker and his family and the robbery of the company of €2.28 million has been found not guilty after a 45 day long trial.

Alan Costello (50) was alleged to have been the driver for an armed kidnap gang which burst into the family home of Paul Richardson on the night of March 13th, 2005.

The gang took Mr Richardson’s wife and their two teenage sons into the Dublin mountains and held them at gunpoint overnight.

Other gang members held Mr Richardson at gunpoint at his home until the next morning when he was told to go to work and deliver the cash to a drop off point.

His co-accused Christopher Corcoran (66), Mark Farrelly (42) and Jason Kavanagh (39) have denied all charges and are still awaiting the jury’s verdict.

Dubliners Mr Corcoran of Bayside Boulevard North, Sutton, Mr Farrelly of Moatview Court, Priorswood, Coolock, Mr Kavanagh of Corduff Avenue, Blanchardstown and Mr Costello of Cromcastle Road, Coolock have all pleaded not guilty to the five charges each.

These are falsely imprisoning the Richardsons at Ashcroft, Raheny on the night of March 13th and 14th and to robbery of €2.28 million in cash from Paul Richardson and Securicor Security Services Ireland Ltd on March 14th, 2005.

After deliberating for just under ten hours the jury of eight men and three men returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges against Mr Costello.

Judge Martin Nolan discharged Mr Costello, who was arrested in April 2012, and asked the jury to resume deliberating on the remaining counts.