Gang members appeal severity of burglary sentences

Five members of a gang who terrorised a young family in 2013 during an aggravated burglary will be in court next month appealing the severity of the prison sentences they received.

The five, who are all from Dublin, received jail terms totalling 62 years from Judge Thomas Teehan in the circuit court in 2015 in relation to their role in the burglary at the home of Emma and Mark Corcoran and their three daughters outside Killenaule, Co Tipperary.

The circuit court heard that the November 2013 burglary — during which Mr Corcoran sustained a fractured eye socket when struck with the butt of a rifle, while gang members threatened to kill the children — had a “catastrophic” effect on the family. Seven men pleaded guilty to a single charge of aggravated burglary.