IRA hoax gang leader jailed for five years

The leader of a gang who organised a savage attack on the former owner of two massage parlours and threatened him for money in the name of the IRA was jailed today for five years.

A jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court returned unanimous guilty verdicts against Edward Buckley (aged 33) of Manor Hill, Ballincollig, Co Cork, and now of Park Road, Muskerry Estate, Ballincollig, Co Cork, on two charges on the indictment, namely assault John O’Connor at a house in Macroom in February 2000 and demanding money with menaces from him at his home in Hazel Road, Togher, Cork, in April 1999.