‘Tiger kidnapper’ appeals against sentence for post office robbery during which three women abducted

Notorious ‘tiger kidnapper’ and gangland criminal Paschal Kelly has opened an appeal against his conviction and 18-year sentence for a €92,000 post office robbery, during which three women were tied up and abducted.

Kelly (56) was one of a gang of three men who burst into the home of postmistress Susan Lawlor at Seabury Drive, Malahide, Dublin on September 25th, 2014. He was sentenced to 18 years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2018.

The gang used cable ties to bind Ms Lawlor, her daughter and an Italian student who was staying at the home. The women were brought to a field where they were held overnight before the gang drove them to the Bayside Post Office in Sutton, Dublin.

At one stage Kelly threatened to burn them alive in a car by pouring petrol over it. The raiders eventually left with the cash.

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Kelly with last addresses in Cootehill, Co Cavan, and Castlepollard, Co Westmeath, was convicted of trespass and the false imprisonment of Ms Lawlor, her daughter, Emma Carter, and student Gabriella Saisa.

He was also convicted of robbery, of threatening to kill the three women and of possession of a stolen vehicle, all on the same date.

The father of two had denied all charges.

Grounds of appeal

On Thursday at the Court of Appeal, Kelly’s lawyers submitted a total of 10 grounds of appeal against his conviction and four grounds against his sentence.

Martin O’Rourke KC, for the appellant, said that the trial judge had erred when allowing the evidence of a prosecution witness identifying Kelly from CCTV to go before the jury. Mr O’Rourke said that without this evidence, the judge would have to direct the jury to find Kelly not guilty.

Counsel said that no one had specifically identified Kelly as “the perpetrator” of the crime but that it was the contention of two Garda witnesses that they had made an identification of the driver of the car used in the robbery.

He said there was no evidence that either detective told their superior that they saw the driver when they were interviewed over the discharge of a weapon as they gave chase during the robbery.

Mr O’Rourke said that it was “critical” that in the early stage in the investigation neither guard gave a description of the driver as Kelly.

Reliability of identification and the question of fairness in admitting the evidence were the issues at play, said counsel.

“This is a case where the unreliability of the evidence means it should not be put to the jury,” said counsel.

Mr O’Rourke then played CCTV frame-by-frame to the three judges, footage which he said could not positively identify his client.

“You can’t facially identify the person,” said Mr O’Rourke of the CCTV.

“The person had their hood up, so you can’t see a hairline. What you can see is a man in his 50s or 60s with a beard,” he said, adding that a jury could not make a facial identification based on the CCTV.

“The jury should have been sufficiently told to not make an identification from that,” he said.

The appeal, before presiding judge Mr Justice John Edwards, sitting with Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, was then adjourned to December 19th, when counsel for the State Roisin Lacey SC will reply to Mr O’Rourke’s submissions.

The trial heard that Kelly’s 60 previous convictions include assaults, escaping lawful custody, robbery and road traffic offences. In March 2015, he was sentenced for threatening to kill a Criminal Assets Bureau officer and failure to provide tax returns.

He received 10 years for a post office robbery in 1997 and four years for another robbery offence in 1989.