A 41-year-old Laois man described as the ring leader in a gang that rammed two garda cars, injuring four gardaí, has been sentenced to four years and four months in prison.
The gang was later found in possession of stolen property from burglaries on five farms in the midlands.
Thomas McInerney, with an address of Twomey Park in Mountmellick, and his brother Gerard, from Moanbaun, Mountrath appeared in court in Portlaoise with their 37-year-old cousin William McInerney from Newline Close in Mountrath for sentencing after they were "caught red handed" with the stolen property and a jeep in a bog in Laois in July last year.
Judge Keenan Johnson said the court was acutely conscious of the plague of robberies and burglaries afflicting rural Ireland and there can be no doubt that the types of offences, to which the accused had pleaded guilty, had contributed to the destruction of trust in rural Ireland.
Gerard McInerney and William McInerney were each sentenced to three years and six months in prison for their role in the incident.
The court was told one of the injured gardaí has yet to return to work after his car was rammed twice by the gang in a stolen jeep in July of last year.
