Attorney General's Reference (No.1 of 2005) Bernard Philip Mary Rooney & Others
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Kerr LCJ |
| Judgment Date | 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] NICA 44 |
| Date | 11 November 2005 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation no. [2005] NICA 44
Ref:
KERF5407
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
Delivered:
11/11/05
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN HER MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
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ATTORNEY GENERAL'S REFERENCE (Number 1 of 2005)
BERNARD PHILIP MARY ROONEY, DENIS MICHAEL DORRIAN,
GERARD MARTIN PAUL IRVINE, SEAMUS PATRICK CUNNINGHAM
and SEAN MARTIN JOSEPH DORAN
(AG Ref 6-10 of 2005)
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Before Kerr LCJ, Nicholson LJ and Campbell LJ
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KERR LCJ
Introduction
[1] On 1 April 2005 at Antrim Crown Court the offender, Bernard Rooney,
pleaded guilty to robbery contrary to section 8(1) of the Theft Act (Northern
Ireland) 1969 and to one count of handling stolen goods, contrary to section
21. On 6 June he was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment for the robbery and
2 years imprisonment for handling stolen goods. The sentences were ordered
to run concurrently with each other and with a sentence of 15 years
imprisonment which the offender was then serving and which had been
imposed at Belfast Crown Court on 27 November 2003 for five offences of
robbery and one offence of conspiracy to rob.
[2] On 12 April 2005, also before Antrim Crown Court, the offender, Denis
Dorrian, pleaded guilty to robbery. He absconded whilst on bail awaiting
sentence. On 21 June, after he had been apprehended, Dorrian was sentenced
to a custody probation order of 7 years and 9 months made up of 6 years and
3 months imprisonment and 18 months probation.
[3] At the same court on 12 April 2005, the offender, Gerard Irvine, pleaded
guilty to robbery and on 6 June he was sentenced to a custody probation
order of 7½ years comprising 6 years imprisonment and 18 months probation.
2
The offender, Seamus Patrick Cunningham, pleaded guilty to robbery and he
was also sentenced on 6 June to a custody probation order of 7½ years made
up of 6 years imprisonment and 18 months probation. Sean Doran also
pleaded guilty to robbery and he was sentenced to a custody probation order
of 7 years consisting of 5½ years imprisonment and 18 months probation.
[4] The Attorney General sought leave to refer the sentences to this court
under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, on the ground that they
were unduly lenient. We gave leave on 23 September 2005 and the
application proceeded on that date.
Factual background
[5] The robbery offence to which all the offenders pleaded guilty took place at
approximately 12.15 pm on 7 January 2003 outside the Ulster Bank, Market
Square, Antrim. Police had been informed that an armed gang intended to
rob Securicor staff while they carried out a transaction at the bank. A police
surveillance team was put in place and police officers took on the role of the
Securicor staff who would normally have been involved in the delivery to the
bank. While walking from the Securicor vehicle to the bank, one of these
officers (who was carrying a cash box containing £25000) was approached
from behind and struck on the head with a gun by the offender Doran who
then snatched the cash box. Immediately after that other police officers came
to the scene; they apprehended Doran and recovered the weapon and the
cash box. It was found that the firearm was imitation. A second person (who
was arrested at the scene but later absconded) was arrested a short distance
away. He was driving a stolen vehicle in which a bin filled with water was
discovered. The driver was found to have two mobile telephones in his
possession and a set of keys for a Volvo motor car.
[6] Rooney, Cunningham, Irvine and Dorrian were arrested in a van at High
Street, Antrim, some 300 metres from the scene of the robbery. While making
these arrests police recovered two mobile telephones. One of these was found
to have been broken open, and the ‘Sim’ card had been thrown away. It was
deduced that this had been done in an attempt to prevent analysis of calls that
had been made earlier. Police had, however, observed earlier interaction
between the occupants of this van and two other vehicles, one of which was
the Volvo. The van had been seen parked beside these vehicles at other
locations in Antrim before the robbery. Rooney’s fingerprints were found
inside the Volvo and on a can that had been discarded in that vehicle. The
word “Roon” was also found written on the inside of the car’s sunroof.
Forensic evidence found a link between Rooney’s telephone and the driver of
the vehicle who was arrested near the scene. Other links were established
between Rooney and Irvine. Based on these findings the prosecution case
was that Rooney had a major role in the planning and execution of the
robbery.
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R v Mackle (Plunkett Jude)
...been given over the course of a number of days. It also followed what is known as a Rooney hearing ( Attorney General's Reference No 1 of 2005; In re Rooney (Bernard Philip Mary) and others [2005] NICA 44; [2006] NI 218). The purpose of a Rooney hearing is to obtain from the trial judge a......
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R v Hyde
... ... the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) arising from his assistance to police ... to the police in order that others may be brought to justice and that, when such ... In Attorney General’s Reference (No.3 of 2004) (Hazlett) ... event of a defendant requesting a ‘Rooney hearing’ (see AG’s Reference (No.1 of ... ...
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Queen v Michael Mongan
... ... was then in his mid-40s and her grandson Philip then aged 16. Martin was assisting Philip with ... judge referred to the authorities of Attorney General’s Reference (No. 1 of 2005) [2005] NICA ... 1 of 2005) Rooney and Others Kerr LCJ referred to the increase in ... ...
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Queen v Aaron Cavana Wallace and Christopher Francis Kerr
...known as a ‘Rooney hearing’ was established by the Court of Appeal in Attorney General’s Application (No 1 of 2005) (Rooney and Others) [2006] NI 218. [13] The Court of Appeal applied the following rules of practice to Rooney hearings- 1. The judge should only give advance indication of sen......