Healthcare worker gets four years for armed raids on three Cork post offices in a week

Judge Colin Daly imposed a total sentence of five years, with the last year suspended, in the case against Fintan Tindley (pictured). Photo: Facebook

A four-year jail term was imposed on a 49-year-old healthcare worker who was never in trouble in his life but raided three post offices while armed with a knife last November.

Judge Colin Daly imposed a total sentence of five years, with the last year suspended, in the case against Fintan Tindley at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

He carried out a robbery of South Douglas Road post office on November 11, attempted a robbery there on November 18, and robbed the Ballintemple post office on November 16, 2022. Each time he grabbed an unsuspecting customer and placed a knife to their throat, making a death threat as he demanded cash from the postmistress.

Judge Daly said: “Culpability is high where he deliberately and intentionally disguised himself with a hat and mask and armed himself with a knife.” 

The judge agreed with a submission by defence senior counsel, Elizabeth O’Connell, that while the level of planning was high there was an absence of criminality from Tindley’s life other than that shown in his behaviour over a seven-day period last November when he carried out these crimes.

The judge said that two of the victims of these crimes attributed their decisions to stop working to the experience of the crimes carried out by Tindley.

Detective Garda Kevin Motherway testified that at lunchtime on November 11, 2022, the accused entered South Douglas Road post office, placed a knife to the neck of a 72-year-old customer and shouted at the postmistress: “Give me all the money”. €2,380 was robbed from the post office that day.

Five days later he turned up shortly before noon at Ballintemple post office and placed a knife to the neck of a 44-year-old woman who was there to post a parcel. On this occasion, he demanded €15,000. “The customer was in fear that she was going to be injured or killed. The defendant left with €1,300.

“He returned to the South Douglas Road post office and grabbed a 45-year-old woman and again threatened her with a knife as he demanded €15,000 but he fled when the postmistress sounded the panic alarm. On that occasion, the customer feared she was going to be stabbed or seriously harmed.” 

When CCTV was examined, the accused was seen waiting across the road for up to two hours before entering a post office. 

'Out of character'

Mr Tindley had travelled to the USA in 2022 where he met his fiancé whom he had originally met online, and over the course of last year he sent her a total of €19,000.

During the investigation, it was established that Tindley had identified nine post offices in Cork around the time he committed the offences at two premises.

Having worked as a HSE Home Care Assistant and having no previous convictions, the crimes at the post offices were described by Elizabeth O’Connell, senior counsel, as totally out of character—as he had always been a person who was “a million miles away from someone with criminal tendencies.” 

She said that the accused had written letters of apology to the three customers he threatened and the three members of staff on duty when he raided. 

Ms O’Connell accepted that the crimes were “indefensible and (for the victims) traumatic and frightening”. The defence senior counsel said there was “an unusual degree of disconnect between these violent offences and the offender”.