Ten Year Sentence For Northern Bank Robbery

The man convicted of laundering some of the proceeds of the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery in Belfast has been handed down a 10-year sentence by the Irish courts.

Cunningham's 34-year-old son, Timothy, was given a three-year sentence suspended for three years.

He pleaded guilty to one offence of money laundering during the 10-week trial in Cork.

The two are the only people to have been convicted for any offences connected with the huge robbery, which has frequently been blamed on the IRA - a claim consistently denied by Sinn Feín politicians.

Cunningham senior is also now facing a court order to pay €880,000 in tax debts.

It follows an investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau into the financial affairs of the man, Ted Cunningham.

The 60-year-old from Cork was found guilty in March of laundering more than £3m from the robbery in December 2004.

Detectives seized more than £2.3m at Cunningham's home at Farran, County Cork, in February 2005.

He told them it came from the sale of a gravel pit in Offaly to Bulgarian businessmen.

The trial heard the prosecution claim that a total of almost £4.9m had passed through his hands.

The majority of the jury at the trial of Ted Cunningham agreed his guilt in March over charges of laundering money from the infamous robbery which forced the bank to redesign and print new notes.

(BMcC/JM)