A man described as the “ringleader” of a Limerick criminal gang that lost a safe containing €21,000 from the boot of its getaway car as the gang fled the scene of a burglary, has been jailed for five years.
Michael Harty, (36), of Rossmanagher Road, Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, pleaded guilty to the burglary, at Centra, Askeaton, on May 3, 2018.
Harty along with three others arrived at the shop in a stolen black Audi around 1.40am. They activated the shop’s alarm after they “hot-wired” the premise’s front security roller shutters and “ransacked” an office.
One of the males was seen on CCTV helping himself to canisters of motor oil before the gang made off with the shop’s safe containing the €21,000 cash.
The security footage showed the four men removing the safe with “considerable difficulty and loading the safe into the boot of the car”, Judge Tom O’Donnell told Harty’s sentencing hearing at Limerick Circuit Court.
“The safe fell out of the boot, and the four occupants got out of the car and tried to put the safe back in.”
The gang were spooked when a local person, who having heard the shop’s alarm, went to investigate and arrived on the scene.
The gang decided to “abandon the safe” and its contents, in the road and “sped off”.
The getaway car crashed into a ditch near Croom and the gang were observed by a witness unsuccessfully attempting to burn the car out, before they fled the crash scene.
Gardai found and seized the Audi for a forensic analysis which provided a DNA sample from an airbag that activated inside the car during the single vehicle collision.
When the sample was inputted into the Garda DNA database it was found to be a match for the defendant.
Black paint from the car’s boot matched paint marks found on the safe, and the stolen oil bottles were also found in the car.
Harty was arrested and charged in January 2020.
Gardai discovered the Audi had been stolen in the UK. It was modified, had its windows blackened, and it was fitted with false registration plates.
A hatchet, a crowbar, and a sledgehammer were among a number of implements recovered from the car by gardai.
Gardai are still hunting the three other members of the burglary gang.
Judge O’Donnell said CCTV footage showed Harty entering the shop ahead of the other three men and “issuing instructions” to them.
He had 63 previous convictions, including one conviction for possession of firearms for which he was jailed for four years in 2013.
He is married with five children. the court heard.
Despite the safe falling out of the gang’s getaway car at the last minute, the Judge noted the “planned and premeditated” burglary was “executed with precision”.
He said the CCTV footage showed Harty to be the “director of operations”.
He noted that a jail sentence would be “difficult” for “a family man with five children, especially in the current circumstances with the COVID pandemic”.
Harty appeared before the court wearing full PPE, including a gown, slippers, goggles, and a face mask.
He is being held in the Midlands Prison where a number of staff have tested positive for COVID-19.
A five year sentence backdated to January 1st this year, was imposed.
Harty’s barrister sought a suspension of part of the sentence, however the judge responded: “I don’t see why, this was a serious burglary planned and premeditated, and it’s clear from the CCTV that (Mr Harty) was in fact the ringleader.”
