One of the four men involved in an attempted bank robbery in Abbyleix in 2001, in which a garda was accidentally killed, has been jailed for eight years by Judge Michael White at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The planned bank raid was foiled when gardaí who had been waiting at the scene, following a week-long surveillance operation, moved in to intercept the gang's three stolen vehicles.
Chief Supt Noel White told Mr Alex Owens SC, prosecuting, that the amount of money the gang could have got away with had the robbery gone ahead would have been "in the millions".
Garreth Quinn (27), Maplewood Way, Tallaght, who absconded while on bail before his trial, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob the AIB bank in Abbeyleix and allowing himself to be carried in a stolen car on December 7th, 2001.
Quinn handed himself over to gardaí at the end of last August, almost a year after his fellow conspirators had been sentenced to 10 years each by Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court following a seven-week trial in 2002.
Judge White noted that Quinn had not tried to shift the blame on to anyone else for the death of Det Sgt John Eiffe (40) during the failed robbery, unlike his co-conspirators, Kevin Lynch (34), Glenshane Crescent, Ian Quinn (22), St Aongus Road, both Tallaght; and John Bishop (38), St Ronan's Drive, Clondalkin.
The judge also noted that Quinn, with five previous convictions, had a shorter criminal record than two of his fellow conspirators and prison reports showed he was attempting to use the time in custody to reform his life.
Taking all factors into account he suspended the last two years of Quinn's sentence, binding him to keep the peace for two years on release and disqualified him from driving for 10 years.
Chief Supt White told Mr Owens that gardaí had been conducting a surveillance operation of the four defendants as they planned the robbery.
In the week leading up to the incident, gardaí had followed the gang to Abbeyleix where they observed two of them climbing over the wall at the back of the bank and sawing through iron bars on a ground-floor window. They had then filled the gap with putty and painted over their work.
Chief Supt White said that on the day of the robbery the gang travelled in convoy to Abbeyleix. While they parked in a cul-de-sac, armed gardaí moved in to intercept the vehicles.
As one of the cars tried to get away, gardaí from the Emergency Response Unit and National Surveillance Unit opened fire. One of the bullets ricocheted off the ground and fatally wounded Det Sgt Eiffe.