Killer to begin appeal against robbery sentence

AN appeal brought by convicted killer and rapist Ian Horgan against both his conviction and eight-year prison sentence he received for the robbery of a post office will be heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal next week.

Horgan, aged 24, of The Hermitage, Macroom, Co Cork, was found guilty by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in November 2007 of robbing Clondrohid Post Office near Macroom and stealing a car from outside the premises on September 6, 2005. Horgan had denied the charges.

Yesterday Ms Justice Fidelma Macken was told that both lawyers for Horgan and the DPP were ready to proceed with the appeal on Friday. Horgan was not in court when the matter was briefly mentioned.

The Judge was told that the appeal will take approximately half a day to hear. The appeal will be heard by the three-judge CCA.

Horgan was convicted of committing the robbery while he was out on bail after he had successfully appealed his conviction for the murder of young Cork woman Rachel Kiely. Horgan was convicted in 2002 of the murder of beautician Ms Kiely, aged 22, in Ballincollig in October 2000. Horgan was 16 years of age at the time.

He successfully appealed the conviction in 2004 and was released on bail.

In 2006 he pleaded guilty to Ms Kiely’s manslaughter and was found guilty of her rape and was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court by Mr Justice Barry White to eight years in jail, with six years suspended due to the time he had already served.

However, in April 2007 the CCA substituted a 12-year sentence on both counts backdated to 2001 following a successful appeal against the leniency of the sentence by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Because the post office robbery was committed while he was out on High Court bail, he must serve the eight-year sentence after his current term expires.