Notorious Limerick criminal fails in bid to have sentence for money laundering reduced

A NOTORIOUS Limerick criminal who was previously jailed for nailing a man to a kitchen floor has failed in an appeal against the severity of a separate three-and-a-half year sentence for money-laundering offences.

Gerard Mackin with a previous address at Rhebogue Road in Limerick, was extradited from Alicante in Spain in December 2022 and pleaded guilty to laundering €4,780 as the proceeds of criminal behaviour at Rhebogue Road in Limerick, on April 17, 2019. 

Imposing sentence at the Special Criminal Court last May, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that Mackin handled the money "in the context of some form of serious organised criminality in the Limerick area". 

While the sum of money was "at the lower end of the scale", the judge said the circumstances were not and Mackin's previous conviction for assault causing harm was "relevant to this case in that it explains the background against which the proceeds of crime in this case were handled". 

At the Court of Appeal this Tuesday, Michael O’Higgins SC, for Mackin, argued that the overall sentence imposed by the court was “excessive”, the headline sentence of four years and eight months was “overly severe” and that the court erred in failing to suspend a portion of the sentence having regard to the mitigating factors in the case. 

Mr O’Higgins said the amount of money seized was low but was only one piece of the jigsaw. He said the context here was juxtaposing the very low amount with the fact that the money was bubble wrapped with two mobile phones, one of which was capable of encrypting data. 

Mr O’Higgins said that while there was “no doubt” that the fact the money was found bubble wrapped with two mobile phones - one of which was capable of encrypting data - was a “troubling aspect”, the difficulty here was in the weight the court had attached to this.

It was submitted that no evidence was given at the sentence hearing that this offence or the previous conviction was related to a serious criminal organisation.

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He said the court did not have the “clarity” or the “sure footing” to bring the sentence “from the ground floor to the top floor in the band in which it falls”. 

Counsel also submitted that the trial judges failed to give appropriate credit to the length of time that had passed since the commission of the offence, the guilty plea at the earliest possible opportunity, the appellant’s voluntary return to Ireland, his compliance with gardaí and his personal circumstances. 

The lawyer argued that the reduction of 25% given to the headline sentence should have been higher given the mitigating factors in the case, including the fact that Mackin had come before the court with a good work record, had struggled with alcohol difficulties in the past and the fact the court had accepted the operation “was not a sophisticated one”.

He said the court had the discretion to reduce the sentence by a third. 

The court also erred in failing to suspend a portion of the sentence, the lawyer stated, having regard to the mitigating factors and the principles of “proportionality and rehabilitation”.

He said the trial judges noted the appellant’s intention to take himself out of the criminal milieu he had gotten himself into but had failed to structure a sentence that would incentivise this rehabilitation. 

Fiona Murphy SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said no error in principle had been identified. She said there was “clear evidence” the appellant was involved in criminality and that was the background for this offending. 

In relation to the discount given to the headline sentence, Ms Murphy said the court was entitled to consider all the circumstances and said there was a discretion as to what amount could be given for an early plea.

“The court is entitled to give whatever deduction they feel is appropriate and the court clearly did so,” she said. 

Dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice John Edwards said the Special Criminal Court was entitled to take the view that the appellant’s involvement in crime was “not minor and peripheral”.

He said that while the amount of money involved was only €4,780, it was found with two phones - one with the capacity for encryption - encased in bubble wrap.

The judge also noted that Mackin told lies about the source of the money and the background, with initial suggestions that it was from the credit union and later claims that it was from the appellant’s work.

He said that while gardai accepted Mackin had an income, their evidence was it did not come from either of those sources and that it was the proceeds of crime.

Having regard to Mackin’s previous conviction, the judge said that while he had been punished already and there was “no question” of him being punished for a second time, it “was a factor to be considered”. 

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In regard to the argument that insufficient discount was given, he said the court had not been persuaded that the reduction was too low.

 He said the plea of guilty was evidently of value to the court and the appellant had been afforded an overall discount of 25%.

The judge said the plea was the “major item of mitigation” and while there were other factors the extent to which they would have contributed would have been “modest”.

He said that while it was true the court did not reference the other mitigating factors such as his previous work history and family circumstances, they were “not obliged” to do so and there was no reason to believe they were not taken into account in arriving at the 25% discount.

 Mr Justice Edwards said accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal against severity of sentence. 

Mackin had pleaded guilty before the three-judge court to knowing or believing, or being reckless as to whether property, €4,780, was the proceeds of criminal conduct, did handle, acquire and/or possess the said property contrary to Section 7 of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act of 2010.

At the hearing in March 2023, Detective Sergeant Padraig O'Dwyer told Ms Murphy that two gardai on patrol had observed an Opel Insignia car suspiciously parked outside Mackin's house on April 17, 2019. The driver was searched and found to be in possession of €4,780 in cash, an Aquaris phone and an iPhone wrapped in bubble wrap and tied together with elastic bands.

The court heard that Mackin came out of his house and conversed with gardai telling them that the money belonged to him.

In January 2011, Mackin's retrial for the murder of Edward Burns, a taxi driver and 36-year-old father-of-five, dramatically collapsed at the Special Criminal Court after the State entered a 'nolle prosequi' [a decision not to prosecute]. Several of Mackin's supporters who were in court applauded and cheered while members of the victim's family openly wept.

The chief prosecution witness refused to give evidence at the trial after telling a Belfast High Court judge he was threatened that if he gave any evidence, he would be shot dead.

Mackin had pleaded not guilty to the murder at Bog Meadow, Falls Road, Belfast on March 12, 2007.

It was the second trial of Mackin after a 2008 conviction - which made Mackin the first person convicted in a Dublin court for an alleged murder in Belfast under a rarely-used cross border anti-terrorism law - was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal and a retrial ordered.

In July 2013, another nolle prosequi was entered against Mackin at the non-jury court on a charge of IRA membership and demanding money with menaces on behalf of the INLA in Co Monaghan on May 18 and 21, 2012.