'Career criminal' jailed for four years

A 'hardened career criminal' has been jailed for four years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for his role in robbing €60,000 from the TSB with inside help from a cashier.

Martin Byrne, aged 37, of Cromcastle Avenue, Coolock has already served nine years for a previous bank robbery and three years for a drugs offence.

Byrne pleaded guilty before his trial before a jury for armed robbery of the TSB Bank, Henry Street, Dublin on October 12, 2000.

Judge Joseph Matthews said he was mindful that another party, a woman, was central to the crime and was recently jailed for nine months by Judge Elizabeth Dunne for her role.

Judge Matthews described Byrne as "a hardened career criminal" who had spent 12 years of his 37 in prison for two serious offences and said the court would have been justified in handing out a higher sentence for this latest robbery.

But, in view of his guilty plea and in the hope of persuading him towards rehabilitation he would leave the sentence at four years and would also suspend the final six months to take account of the time he had spent in custody.

Judge Matthews noted also that while Byrne had "to face the music" in court, his co-accused in the robbery, Anthony Armstrong, aged 32, of Rathvilly Drive, Finglas was in Spain enjoying the fruits of the crime and could not be extradited.

"It takes courage to stand before a jury of his peers and admit his guilt as he has done when he could have fought a trial as his right and perhaps got off, even on a technicality", Judge Matthews told the jury before discharging them.

Detective Sergeant Robert McNulty told prosecuting counsel Mr Justin Dillon BL that Byrne was arrested some time after the robbery as a result of confidential information.

The robbery was preplanned by Byrne and Armstrong who entered the bank dressed as builders and queued at the Bureau de Change counter.

They produced a handgun and ordered a cashier, who was the only teller on duty, to fill a plastic bag with money. She obeyed and they left with assorted currency totalling £48,000.

During the investigation gardai learned that a Brinks Allied truck had deposited foreign currency at the bank 15 minutes before the robbery.

The normal procedure was for the cash to be checked and then logged into the bank's computer system but gardaí noted that it was logged into the system at 10.07am, over an hour before it arrived at the bank.

A woman who aided the thieves was arrested the following December and after two days of questioning made a full cautioned statement in which she revealed that a friend of hers began a relationship with one of the men who robbed the bank shortly before the incident.

She told gardai the idea began as a joke in the Swiss Cottage pub in Santry but later she realised Byrne and Armstrong were serious. She felt compelled to help them but after her arrest she received six threatening text messages which read "watch what you say, bitch."

She added that she received sums of £50 on three different occasions from them from the proceeds of the robbery but had expected to get nothing.

Det Sgt McNulty said Byrne had nothing left from the robbery proceeds.