Armed robbers who beat Clare postmistress jailed for over 11 years combined
Two men who carried out a violent armed robbery at Carrigaholt Post Office in Co Clare have been sentenced to a combined 11 years and nine months in prison.
Carrigaholt Post Office robbers sentenced at Ennis Circuit Court
Two men who beat and "terrorised" a postmistress during an armed robbery of a rural Co Clare post office have been jailed, RTÉ News reports. Judge Francis Comerford at Ennis Circuit Court imposed cumulative prison terms of 13 years — before suspension — on Michael McMahon, 39, of Plunkett Drive, Kilkishen, and Darren Cassidy, 39, of Lifford Mews, Ennis, for the raid on Carrigaholt Post Office on 21 January.
Judge Comerford described the robbery as "callous in its planning and callous in its execution", saying the men had acted "out of desperation" but in doing so had terrorised postmistress Maura McKiernan, whom he called "remarkably brave and resilient". He said the pair had deliberately chosen the "easy target" of a post office in a remote part of west Clare.
The raid
Shortly after midday on 21 January, McMahon and Cassidy entered the post office wearing white overalls, black hoods and black gloves. Both were armed with iron bars. One of the two handed a bag across the counter and demanded it be filled with cash. A third man, Darragh Pender, 31, of Dun na hInse in Ennis, waited outside in a black car as getaway driver.
Detective Garda Deirdre Collins told the court that McMahon smashed the glass of the counter and made threats while Cassidy moved behind it and struck Ms McKiernan with an iron bar, knocking her to the ground. Ms McKiernan managed to activate the panic button during the attack.
In her statement to gardaí, Ms McKiernan described the moment one of the men told his accomplice to "take her outside the counter area and deal with her". "I thought I was going to be murdered," she said. "I was screaming for help. I told them I couldn't open the safe." The men ransacked the office and found a key to open it. In total they made off with cash, coins and a cheque totalling €8,944.63.
Victim impact
Ms McKiernan delivered her victim impact statement in person. "They proceeded to hit me on my leg and my back with the metal bars," she told the court. "I thought I was going to die right there on the floor and that's something that will stay with me forever."
She said the effects of the robbery did not end when the men left. "I am still dealing with the physical and emotional consequences of what they did to me," she said.
Arrest and guilty pleas
Following Ms McKiernan's alarm, garda units across Co Clare were alerted. After a high-speed chase, all three suspects were arrested by members of the Garda Armed Response Unit near Ennis at 3.45pm the same day. All three subsequently pleaded guilty to the robbery.
Pender told gardaí he had expected to receive €400 for his role as driver and had hoped McMahon would offer him work as a barber at a premises McMahon operated on the Quin Road in Ennis. Originally from Quilty in west Clare, Pender said he had not known the details of the plan and that, had he known someone would be struck, he would have left immediately. He has no previous convictions. Judge Comerford adjourned sentencing for Pender pending completion of a Probation Report.
Sentences imposed
Judge Comerford set a headline sentence of 115 months on McMahon, reduced for his early guilty plea and other mitigating factors. The effective term imposed was seven years and two months, with the final nine months suspended, leaving McMahon to serve six years and five months.
Cassidy received a headline sentence of 100 months. After reductions for his early plea and mitigation, the effective term was five years and ten months, with the final six months suspended, resulting in a sentence of five years and four months. Both sentences were backdated to 23 January, when the two men were first remanded in custody.
Judge Comerford said the offence fell at the highest level of the mid-range of robbery offending. He noted that neither man was of good character — McMahon carries 47 previous convictions, including one for a similar robbery at a Paddy Power betting outlet, while Cassidy has 32 — and that neither had cooperated with gardaí during questioning.
The judge said the interests of retribution, deterrence and public censure had to play a strong role in the sentencing. Both McMahon and Cassidy apologised to Ms McKiernan in court and each described their actions as "horrendous". McMahon, who was also a director of an auto repair business on the Quin Road in Ennis, told his probation officer that the decision to carry out the robbery "was a catastrophic decision".
Source: RTÉ News