Conspiracy to murder to be given maximum of life in prison

Maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder to rise from 10 years to life

Imre Arakas, 62, was jailed by the Special Criminal Court for six years in December 2018, after he admitted to conspiring with others to murder James Gately in Northern Ireland between April 3 and 4, 2017.

Laws providing for possible life sentences for conspiracy to murder are due to be published before the summer.

Garda investigations into organised crime, including the Kinahan cartel, have been frustrated by the current maximum sentence of 10 years available for conspiracy to murder.

Senior members and hired killers in Kinahan ‘hit teams’ have received sentences short of the maximum, including Liam Brannigan, Alan Wilson and Imre Arakas.

Gardaí are working on a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to possible charges that could be brought against the leaders of the cartel — Daniel Kinahan, his brother Christopher Jnr and father and cartel founder Christy Snr — who have been based in the United Arab Emirates.

Possible charges include directing a criminal organisation, participation in such a gang or conspiracy to murder.

Pressure on the Dubai-based leadership has ratcheted up in recent weeks, with financial sanctions imposed by US authorities followed by similar measures by the UAE.

Irish authorities have also issued a European arrest warrant for senior cartel figure Sean McGovern in relation to murder charges. If McGovern, who is also in Dubai, sets foot in an EU country he will be arrested and surrendered to Ireland.

At a high-profile press conference in Dublin two weeks ago, the US State announced a $5m reward for each of the three cartel leaders.

The conference heard a total of 79 people connected to the cartel have been convicted, including 22 charges of attempted murder, including conspiracy to murder, relating to 46 ‘threat to life’ operations.

In a statement, the Department of Justice said the Government approved the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill in September 2020.

It said the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice concluded its pre-legislative scrutiny on the general scheme at the end of 2021.

It said the bill would provide, among other matters, for an increase in the penalty for conspiring to commit murder and soliciting to commit murder from a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

“The maximum penalty for both of these offences is currently 10 years,” the statement said. 

The proposed new maximum penalty of life imprisonment, which is equivalent to that for attempted murder, is considered a more appropriate penalty given the seriousness of the offences in question.” 

On the timeline for the legislation, the department said: “Work is continuing on the drafting of this bill based on the general scheme and further legal advices. The minister hopes to be in a position to publish these provisions in the second quarter of this year.” 

"As stated by [Justice] Minister [Helen] McEntee when the general scheme was published, these higher sentences are targeted at gangland criminals and will allow for the seriousness of the crime to be reflected in the sentences that judges can impose."

The statement added: “The impact of all violent crime spreads far wider than the victims alone and it is vital that the powers available to the judiciary are such as to provide an appropriate deterrent for conspiring to commit the most heinous crime of taking a person's life.”