TWO BROTHERS have been sentenced to a total of 16 years for a botched raid on a cash van five years ago. Alan Bradley (38), who was second in command during the raid, was sentenced to nine years, with two suspended. Wayne Bradley (33), who played a more minor role as a scout and lookout, was sentenced to seven years, with 18 months suspended.
The men carried out the raid under the direction of the late Eamonn Dunne, who was also arrested at the scene. Three other men have already been sentenced for their roles, including a Chubb Ireland employee who acted as an “inside man”. The van contained nearly €1 million at the time.
Wayne Bradley, Finglas, Dublin, and Alan Bradley, Kentstown, Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to conspiring to steal cash from Chubb Ireland on November 2nd, 2007, at Tesco in Celbridge, Co Kildare.
Judge Tony Hunt said the men were part of an organised crime gang that represented “a significant social evil in today’s society”. He said such raids were used by gangs to finance their criminal activities.
He repeated his criticism that the maximum sentence for the offence of 10 years was inadequate and that he would impose a more significant sentence if he had a “free hand”.
He also criticised defence evidence given on behalf of Wayne Bradley by an outreach worker. He questioned the accuracy of the information presented by the witness and rejected suggestions that Wayne had special needs and was pressured into taking part in the crime.
Judge Hunt said the only significant factors in favour of the brothers were their early guilty pleas, which saved the need for a trial. Organised criminals should receive very significant sentences “to root it out and deter others”.
He added that he was liable to be “corrected elsewhere”, alluding to the Court of Criminal Appeal, and that he “was corrected there most Mondays”.
Alan has 32 previous convictions and Wayne has 12, for minor offences. Neither brother has come to Garda attention since the 2007 raid.
Det Garda Ronan Casey told counsel Deirdre Murphy SC, prosecuting, that Alan was second in command to Dunne, while Wayne was less involved and did not participate in the planning of the operation.
Alan was spotted by gardaí near the Chubb headquarters shortly before the raid and was also responsible for obtaining key codes that they planned to use to open the van. Patrick Marrinan SC, defending Alan, said his client was heavily involved in his local gym and a kickboxing club. He said he was active in his residents’ association and had helped build playgrounds for local children and put up road safety signs.
He is married with three children.
Mr Marrinan said Alan wanted to put his criminality behind him, learn a language and move abroad to find work. He could not find work here because he “hasn’t been able to shake the shackles of his notoriety”.
Aileen Donnelly SC, defending Wayne, said he should not be penalised because he shares the Bradley name and added that he “is not his brother’s keeper”.
Outreach worker Martina Buckley said Wayne went to a special-needs school as a child but agreed he knew the difference between right and wrong. The judge rejected the special-needs defence as an “insult to special-needs children”.
Judge Hunt said the raid was foiled by “sound police work and accurate intelligence”.
On the morning of November 2nd, 2007, Dunne, Jeffery Morrow, Michael Ryan, Joseph Warren and the Bradleys travelled in a four-car convoy from Finglas to Sandyford. They parked near the Chubb offices and waited for the van to start its run at 8am.
The “inside man”, Darryl Caffrey, was a passenger in the vehicle. When the van stopped at Celbridge Shopping Centre, Caffrey and his Chubb Ireland colleague got out to fill an ATM.
Warren approached the van with a consaw, while Ryan tried and failed to open the front doors with keys that had been procured by Alan. When the van doors would not open, Warren walked back towards his car as gardaí moved in.