Disastrous duo bungle bank robbery but avoid jail

THEIR getaway motorbike broke down and had to be pushed for half a mile, they dropped a mobile phone near the scene of the crime, but the slapstick hold-up for two “nice raiders” ended without tears yesterday, when they avoided jail by getting suspended sentences.

The dopey duo travelled from Kilkenny to Cork for an armed bank robbery, but everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Extensive planning of the crime didn’t seem to make it any more successful for the pair, who were described by one bank official as “nice raiders”.

The comedy of errors unfolded at the AIB branch in Innishannon, Co Cork, at 10am, on August 6 last. The disastrous duo had their imitation firearm, and their back pack of rubber balls impregnated with steel spikes to shred the tyres of any pursuing garda vehicles. What they didn’t have was a clue.

Robert Kennedy, 20, from Moonarch, Callan, Co Kilkenny and Raymond Keane, 19, from Ballykeeffe, Kilmanagh, Co Kilkenny, had bought a car and a motorbike in Midleton, Co Cork, where they were clearly identified on security cameras.

Their imitation firearm had been bought over the internet.

The pair had picked the bank after passing through Innishannon once and thought the place looked isolated. Sergeant Jerry McCarthy, who investigated the robbery of the AIB bank said the two men simply stood behind the counter and never threatened violence.

Nor did they jump up on the counter.

They had parked the motorbike in Knockavilla Woods, and parked the car in Ballincollig a week before the robbery.

The raiders arrived at the AIB bank as it opened at 10am and politely walked out the door with €3,540 in cash. They both got onto the bike, which broke down half a mile from the getaway car, so they had to run the rest of the way, pushing the bike.

They set fire to the bike and in the excitement, they dropped a mobile phone. Gardaí were glad to have such a helpful clue. Even though it was a ready-to-go phone it had two numbers recorded in it, and this was a great help in linking them to the accused.

The car was then burnt out in Fermoy and they used their own cars to drive home, in time to get to work in the afternoon.

The spiked balls were never used.

Judge Sean O’Donnabhain said yesterday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court: “On one view it was a premeditated crime, but on closer examination it had all the elements of naivety. I will err on the side of caution and impose three-year suspended sentences.”

The sting in the tail for the duo came when they were told that they would have to donate €2,000 each to the Probation and Welfare service for the cost of supervising them over the next 12 months. They must also submit for urine analysis at least once a month, to confirm they are drug-free.

Gardaí in Kilkenny indicated that the men had not come to adverse notice since the robbery in Innishannon.