Empty moneybox thief 'not high on the intellectual scale'

A drug addict who robbed an empty box from Securicor staff making a collection in Blanchardstown three years ago has today been given a six-year sentence by Judge Patricia Ryan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Kieran Counihan (aged 24), who is already serving a four-year sentence for transporting guns for a crime gang, held a staff member at gunpoint while robbing the Securicor box which later exploded, emitting red dye.

Counihan, of Fassaugh Road, Cabra, pleaded guilty to the robbery of the Securicor box valued at €2,500 outside Quinn Direct, The Q Centre, Blanchardstown on May 5, 2004.

Judge Ryan suspended the last two years of the sentence after taking into account a governor’s and psychiatric reports and that Counihan is now drug-free.

Detective Garda Jim McGovern told Mr Dominic McGinn BL, prosecuting, that two Securicor staff arrived at the Quinn Direct building to make a collection. A full cash box was collected by one of the staff and handed into the van through a security mechanism.

An empty cash box was then handed out to be taken back inside. As the staff member walked back to the building carrying the box he was stopped by a man wearing a balaclava and armed with a handgun.

The man pointed the gun at him and told him: "Give me the f***ing box or I will shoot you."

The staff member put the box on the ground. The man took it and ran back to a silver Nissan jeep which the staff had noticed earlier when they saw one of the occupants lying down. It drove off and details were circulated on garda radio.

Det Gda McGovern said he was in the Dunsink Lane area shortly afterwards and observed two men throwing a black box and dark jacket into the canal. The two men were arrested and the Securicor box which was emitting a red dye was recovered.

The dark jacket, which was covered in red dye, was also recovered and the silver Nissan jeep, which had false plates, fitted was found nearby in the car park of Total Fitness.

Det Gda McGovern said there was a red pellet inside the box which was programmed to explode when the Securicor box was outside the van for more then five minutes.

A number of items including a replica firearm, a balaclava, a glove and keys to the jeep were also found along the canal bank. A matching glove was found in the jeep.

Det Gda McGovern said Counihan was currently serving a four-year sentence for possession of firearms and is due for release in November 2009.

He agreed with Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, that there had been no direct evidence linking her client to the scene of the robbery but that he had made admissions.

Ms Kennedy said her client was "not high on the intellectual scale" and had been heavily abusing drugs at the time but was now addressing his addiction.

She asked Judge Ryan to take into account Counihan’s guilty plea, remorse and attempts at rehabilitation.

Counihan was jailed for four years by Judge Michael White last July after being caught transporting stolen guns for a notorious Finglas-based criminal gang.

He was stopped by gardaí on November 4, 2004 after turning away from a Garda checkpoint.

Gardaí recovered five weapons and ammunition from his car including three double-barrelled and one single-barrell shotguns, along with a .22 rifle and ammunition.