A self-confessed robber with 136 previous convictions, who admitted attempting a third raid while on the run from prison, has been jailed for eight years after agreeing to serve a further two years on probation.
However, despite his lengthy record and the fact that he had progressed from being a getaway driver to being an actual robber, Belfast Judge Melody McReynolds ruled that 32-year-old James Mathew O'Neill was not "dangerous", although he did present a high risk of re-offending.
O'Neill of no fixed abode, but originally from the Poleglass area, had pleaded guilty to the December 2008 attempted cash-box snatch in November last year while awaiting the outcome of the case against three others.
They were eventually jailed in June last for their part in the raid outside a Finaghy off-licence in on the Upper Lisburn Road in south Belfast on 22 December 2008 which was foiled by an undercover police sting operation.
On Wednesday, prosecuting QC Ciaran Murphy said O'Neill's sentencing was adjourned because his case also came under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Order in which it had to be decided if he posed a risk of danger to the public, under certain specific criteria.
Mr Murphy, who conceded that despite his record O'Neill had no conviction for actual violence, claimed that he had "met the threshold on a number of the factors" and that reports also indicated O'Neill had a number of failings and characteristics which would have to be dealt with in the future.
However, defence QC Charles Adair said while there was a high level risk of O'Neill re-offending, he did not meet the specific criteria necessary under the law to mark him as dangerous.
"In terms of expert opinion," Mr Adair suggested, "the court would be slow, in our opinion, to make a finding of dangerousness", and added that: "there is no history of violence in this man's past".
O'Neill, he said, was a man who had abused both alcohol and illegal drugs for years and that all the experts in the case believe that he will require substantial help, treatment and supervision upon his release from prison.
Sentencing O'Neill, Judge McReynolds, sitting in Craigavon Crown Court, said she had the benefit of extensive reports which indicated he was not suffering from any mental illness and that he did not have one single conviction for assault on his record.
In the circumstances, the judge added she was satisfied that the evidence in this case "falls marginally short of the threshold of dangerousness".
Judge McReynolds said she also had had the benefit of viewing CCTV footage of the foiled raid by undercover police who deserved to be commended for their courage.
O'Neill armed with a knife had been waiting ready to snatch a cash box from what he believed was an unsuspecting lone guard returning with nearly £12,000 to his van.
However, Judge McReynolds revealed that far from being unsuspecting, the guard was an undercover policeman, and neither was he alone, because in a security van parked nearby were other police waiting to pounce.
On being confronted by armed police O'Neill immediately dropped his knife, and while it was uncertain whether he was under the influence of drink or drugs at the time, he then stumbled or tripped, and fell into the path of a passing motorist.
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