Man gets 12 years for attempted murder

A DUBLIN man was jailed for 12 years at the Central Criminal Court yesterday for attempting to murder his brother-in-law.

Mr Justice Paul Carney, sitting at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, said he had been unable to find anything in favour of Charles Darcy, who fired a semi-automatic pistol twice at Patrick Collins’s head.

Darcy (21), Crumlin Park, Crumlin, was convicted by a jury last June of the attempted murder of Mr Collins at Cooley Road, Drimnagh, on August 31st, 2008. He was also found guilty of aggravated burglary.

The judge said the case was “of the highest order of gravity”. He said Darcy had tried to assassinate his brother-in-law and only failed because the gun jammed twice.

The judge said Mr Collins had been forced into exile from Drimnagh and from the country, as well as from his wife, mother and father and his three children.

He said Darcy had invented “a cock-and-bull story” by way of an alibi for himself. He sentenced him to 12 years for the attempted murder and five years for the burglary, to run concurrently.