Cross-Dressing Robber Bags 12 Years In Jail

A cross-dressing terrorist - who hailed originally from Northern Ireland - and who robbed over €700,000 from a Dublin bank, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

A former active IRA man from Co Armagh, the INLA member Danny Hamill, who currently comes from Donnycarney in Dublin, pointed a loaded gun at a garda and threatened to kill him while trying to escape, during the 2006 Allied Irish Bank robbery.

Mr Hamill and an accomplice entered the bank, in Crumlin, on the morning of Saturday 3 June.

Dressed as a woman, in a black wig, dark glasses and a red dress, Mr Hamill used a set of front door keys to enter the premises.

During the armed robbery the 49 year-old held two female members of staff hostage.

Mr Hamill had previously committed similar crimes for the INLA, but the Circuit Criminal Court heard that the Crumlin robbery was purely for the personal gain of himself, and his accomplice.

Judge Tony Hunt described the offence as a well-resourced, premeditated and carefully planned robbery.

Gardaí were on the scene moments after the robbery, and apprehended Mr Hamill and his accomplice, who were found to be carrying two loaded semiautomatic pistols, 34 rounds of live ammunition, a radio scanner tuned to police frequencies and a bag of cash.

Judge Hunt said the building had been "well cased" by the two men, who were aware of the bank's systems.

Praise was offered to garda Robert Reilly, who Mr Hamill had pointed his loaded weapon at, as well as Caitriona Joyce, who managed to block the exit, despite being pregnant at the time.

Mr Hamill, who changed his plea to guilty earlier this week, was sentenced to 12 years, two of which have been suspended in recognition of the new plea.

However, a shadow is still cast over how the two men had acquired three keys for the bank. A matter, which the judge said, Mr Hamill had failed to elaborate on.

Judge Hunt also criticised the bank for its security procedures.

Today, an AIB spokesperson said the bank regularly carries out reviews of its security measures, and in this case has already addressed the issues referred to by the judge.

See: Cross Dressing Robber Changes Plea

(PR)