Man’s jail term for role in kidnap robbery increased by six years

A man who participated in a kidnapping and post office robbery involving a family with a 10-week-old baby has had his nine year prison sentence increased to 15 following an appeal by prosecutors.

Mark McCarthy (32), of Elm Dale Crescent, Ballyfermot, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the false imprisonment of Warren and Jean Marie Nawn as well as their baby in Co Louth and Co Dublin between August 1st and 2nd, 2011.

Some €661,125 was taken from the Post Office in Drogheda, where Mr Nawn worked, none of which has been recovered.

McCarthy was sentenced to nine years imprisonment by Judge Patricia Ryan on May 19th last,. However, the sentence was found to be "unduly lenient" by the Court of Appeal on Friday following an appeal brought by the Director of Public Prosecution and increased to 15 years.

Mr Justice George Birmingham said the injured parties were in their home on the night in question when the doorbell rang. When Mr Nawn went to answer the door he was met by a man with a scarf covering his face, carrying a pizza box in one hand and a short-barrelled gun in the other.

This person threw the pizza box at Mr Nawn and shouted “get on the fucking floor or I will kill you”.

Mr Nawn told the man that there was a baby in the house and he lay down in the hallway. A second man entered and put a gun to Mr Nawn’s head.

Mr Nawn was tied up and his eyes and mouth were covered with duct tape.

Threat to shoot

Ms Nawn had her baby in her arms when she saw the raider entering the sitting room. The raiders tied her hands and legs with duct tape and used duct tape to position the baby on her chest. A raider questioned her and repeatedly threatened to shoot her if she lied.

Mr Nawn was handed his work clothes and told to get dressed. He was then put in the boot of his own car. All three were brought in the same car to a farmyard at Saucerstown, Co Dublin.

Mr Nawn was told that if he did not cooperate, the men would “blow his wife’s head and the baby’s head off”.

When Mr Nawn’s needed to urinate, his shorts were opened but his hands were not untied which saw him urinate on his shoes. The judge said this was “indicative of the indignity to which he was subjected”.

The following morning, Mr Nawn was placed in his car and given various instructions. It was apparent he was under surveillance. At the post office, he informed his manager what was occurring. He asked the manager to refrain from setting off alarms or his wife and baby would be harmed.

Ms Nawn was also ordered to speak to the manager to tell him to comply. She told him she had a gun to her head and the baby had not eaten since the previous evening. She was struck over the head three times with a gun by one of the raiders.

A very large delivery of cash was made to the post office as it was the day of the month when child benefit is paid. The alarm was not raised and the cash was taken by Mr Nawn.

Once he had left the post office, Mr Nawn received instructions on where the money should be dropped off. He was ordered to break up the phone he had been using and to throw the pieces into the river.

Rusty bed

Ms Nawn was driven to a derelict cottage at Damastown, Co Meath where she was loosely tied to a rusty bed with cable ties. After some time she managed to escape.

The baby had not been fed at all during the 16-hour ordeal nor were her nappy or clothing changed. The baby was found to be highly dehydrated and immediately consumed five or six four-ounce bottles of baby formula in hospital.

McCarthy was nominated as a suspect as his fingerprints were found on a piece of torn pizza box in a bag with Ms Nawn’s Tesco club card. The bag was found in a suspect vehicle which had been dowsed with petrol and set on fire but the fire had been extinguished by a quick-thinking passer-by.

He had 125 previous convictions for threats to kill, burglary, possession of knives, assaults, theft and fraud offences, endangerment, public order and road traffic offences.

Mr Justice Birmingham said “thankfully” there have been few similar cases in Ireland and, as such, few earlier sentences were available as comparators. However, he said a sentence in the range of 22 years to life would have to be considered in the absence of mitigation.

There was evidence that McCarthy had been acting under duress in relation to a drug debt and that there was a credible threat against his life unless he participated in the kidnapping.