Ringleader in attack where student was marched to ATM wins appeal

The ringleader behind an “appalling” attack in which a student was “frog-marched” to an ATM machine and told to withdraw money or his girlfriend would be raped by two accomplices has won an appeal against his sentence.

The 20-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, robbery and false imprisonment at Botanic Avenue, Dublin, on April 27th, 2011. He was sentenced to six years' detention by Judge Martin Nolan on March 29th, 2012.

The Court of Appeal heard on Tuesday that the victims were a young woman and her student boyfriend, who had broken up as a result of the incident.

Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Anne Rowland, said the young offender was "the ringleader" from the time he entered the house with his accomplices. He held a knife to the student's throat and commented that he would "give him a quick" cut while moving it across his face.

After he had gotten €40 from the victims, he told them “you better get more than that or I’ll slice you” and, referring to the student’s girlfriend, he said “I’ll hurt her if you don’t give me the PIN number” to an ATM card.

The boyfriend was then “frog-marched” from his girlfriend’s home to a nearby ATM machine while his girlfriend was held at the house by two accomplices. The victim was told that if he did not comply his girlfriend would be raped, Ms Rowland said.

At 11.15pm €600 was withdrawn from the ATM and there were suggestions that the gang would wait until midnight to get another withdrawal. Ms Rowland said the motivation behind the offence was money.

John Aylmer SC, for the The 20-year-old, submitted that the sentencing judge erred in failing to have adequate regard to the provisions of the Children’s Act and that a period of detention should only have been imposed as a last resort. His client was 15 at the time of sentencing, albeit one month from his 16th birthday.

He had become “highly criminalised” at a young age, had lost his father aged 11 from addiction problems, his mother was a chronic alcoholic and he had gone into the care of the HSE.

The court heard that he is now in Wheatfield Prison, having served time in St Patrick’s Institution, and that his sentence is due to finish within a little more than a year.

Speaking on behalf of the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan said the crimes committed by the man were "extremely serious" and had an "appalling" impact on the victims. However, he said the court was not satisfied that the judge gave sufficient attention to the issue of rehabilitation in light of the Children's Act.

Mr Justice Sheehan, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Alan Mahon, said the court would set out the reasons for its decision later. He said the court required a prison governor's report, an updated probation report and details on a drug-treatment programme run by Fr Peter McVerry before moving to impose a new sentence.