Man jailed for 10 years for Strokestown armed robbery

A man who armed himself with a gun before taking part in a bank robbery in Strokestown in 2018 has been jailed for ten years.

Stephen Maughan (34), with an address at Callan Bridge Park, County Armagh, previously appeared before a sitting of Roscommon Circuit Court where details were heard of his involvement in the robbery on April 20th, 2018, which left victims “terrified” and suffering flashbacks.

When he reappeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly at Longford Circuit Court last week, he received a ten-year prison sentence, with credit given for 609 days served in custody for this offence.

The court previously heard from Detective Garda David McDonnell how Mr Maughan and three others reversed a black Audi A6 into a parking space at the Bank of Ireland branch in Strokestown and got out wearing balaclavas and gloves.

Outside the bank, a woman and a young man were collecting for the Special Olympics, while another woman was at the door. The civilians were bundled into the bank, the court heard, and one of the men appeared to have a gun.

The man, later identified as Mr Maughan, was described as five foot six, of slim build, with a puffy red eye and “he seemed to be the ring leader and was calling the shots”.

The men began to shout “where is the money, where is the safe?”, and a computer was thrown on the ground. They jumped over the counter and left the bank soon after with €8,945 in cash.

CCTV footage played in court showed one of the men holding a nail bar and something which “appeared to be a firearm”.

A black Ford Kuga was also considered to be relevant to the investigation, as it was seen travelling in convoy with the Audi towards Strokestown. The Ford was captured on CCTV at a service station, where Mr Maughan, sporting a puffy red eye, got out to purchase five bottles of Lucozade.

It was stopped in Dundalk shortly after 6 p.m. on the evening of the robbery.

The following day, the black Audi was discovered in a shed at a house in County Roscommon. It had no registration plates and was one of five vehicles stolen in Tyrone on April 16th, just a few days earlier.

In a victim impact statement read in court by Seán Ó’Quigley BL, the woman who had been collecting at the door said the men had grabbed both her and a young man in her care and pulled them into the bank.

She described the incident as “frightening and shocking” and said she tried to keep the man in her care calm as he kept saying “man” and “gun”.

She did her best to reassure him, but said she was shaking and crying uncontrollably after the incident and had a panic attack.

She rang her brother and went to his house as she didn’t want to be alone, the court heard. She is unable to sleep at night and has flashbacks.

The mother of the young man who was collecting with that woman, said in her victim impact statement that her son was non-verbal.

“He lived in a world where he felt safe and secure, but he was exposed to violence which he has not been able to compute,” she said, adding that his distress has manifested with behavioural changes.

Mr Maughan has a total of 129 previous convictions, including ones for assault causing harm, disorderly behaviour, threats to damage property, criminal damage, driving with excess alcohol, and possession of Class A drugs.

He has also previously breached a number of suspended sentences, and he was extradited from the north to face the charge of robbery in Strokestown.

He was jailed for ten years for robbery, with credit given for 609 days served in custody between this jurisdiction and Northern Ireland.

Published as part of the Court Reporting Scheme.