A Dublin man involved in the tiger kidnapping of former Kilkenny hurler Adrian Ronan and his family has been sentenced to ten years in prison with the final two suspended.
27 year old Stephen Freeman of Ballcurris gardens, Ballymun, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously to attempted robbery of cash with others from Bank of Ireland, Parliament Street, Kilkenny on Tuesday November 3, 2009.
He also admitted using force on Adrian and Mary Ronan and members of their family in order to frighten them.
The court heard that Freeman’s role was to pick up and transport the money after the raid, but he couldn’t drive so a gambling associate taxi driver was hired.
The case against Freeman was largely based on him admitting his involvement to this taxi driver.
He has seven previous convictions at district court level.
Today Judge Desmond Hogan commented that though he was dealing with an attempted robbery charge, the offence took place as part of a tiger kidnapping.
Judge Hogan described the written statements from the Ronan family as “harrowing reading” noting that the family is still suffering from the effects of the “horrific, abominable crime.”
He said he hoped the outcome of this case would bring the family some closure.
The judge took into account Freeman’s age at the time of the offence and his guilty plea.
He suspended the final two years of the ten year sentence for three years. He also ordered that Freeman undergo any gambling addiction course deemed appropriate by the Probation Services.
