Two sentenced in Cork kidnap case
Tuesday, 8 November 2005 22:18
A 38-year-old former IRA member has been jailed for 20 years after he was convicted of falsely imprisoning and threatening to kill a couple in their home in Cork last May.
Gerard Clarke from St John's Terrace, Upper John Street in Cork, has 45 previous convictions for offences including attempted murder, conspiracy to cause explosions and possession of firearms, as well as membership of the IRA.
A second man, Edward Gaffey from Dundalk in Co Louth, was jailed for 12 years.
Clarke was a member of the Provisional IRA and was in charge of a punishment squad in Belfast which carried out knee-cappings.
He was jailed for 14 years in 1993 before being released under the Good Friday Agreement. He moved to Cork two years ago.
At the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork last Friday, Clarke changed his plea to guilty on the seventh day of his trial.
He admitted charges of possession of weapons and of falsely imprisoning and threatening to kill Katie and Gary O'Donovan at their home in Rochestown, Cork last May.
The couple told the court today their world had changed since the attack. Their home had been violated and the safety they had felt there no longer existed.
