Three members of a Dublin based criminal gang who were involved in what was described as a ‘well planned, terrifying and brutal’ armed raid on the home of a Co Galway businessman have been sentenced at the Circuit Criminal Court in Galway.
Thomas Freeman, 54, of Deansrath Grove, Clondalkin, described as the leader of the gang, was given a 12-year jail sentence for false imprisonment.
Michael McCormack, 42, of Ballbrook Close, Tallaght was sentenced to eight years, while Greg Kelly, 22, of Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun, was sentenced to six years in prison, with the final year to be suspended.
All three had pleaded guilty.
The raid on the Flynn's home in Lackagh, Turloughmore, Co Galway, took place on 15 February 2009.
Five masked men brandishing a shotgun and a hatchet burst into the house and overpowered Julian Flynn, his wife Emma and their three young children, and tied them up.
Three neighbours who tried to help the Flynns were also tied up by the gang, but the robbery was foiled when two gardaí arrived on the scene.
The three men convicted today were apprehended by gardaí at the scene, but two others escaped.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Flynn said the lives and the peace of his family had been changed forever by the terror, brutality and cruelty they had experienced.
He said he was worried that the wonderfully innocent minds of his children would be scarred forever by the events they had experienced.
