A US federal judge Tuesday sentenced a Kilrush man who robbed a bank 16 months ago at gunpoint to nearly 10 years in prison. The Bangor Daily News publication in the US State of Maine reports that 27 year old Niall Clarke, an award-winning graduate of Trinity College, showed no emotion as U.S. District Judge John Woodcock sentenced him to 33 months in prison for the armed robbery on Oct. 4, 2006, of the Bank of America branch near the Bangor Mall. Woodcock sentenced Clarke to an additional seven years because he brandished a gun.
"There are a number of factors that make this crime particularly egregious," the judge said. "The fact that he bought the gun the day before the robbery, loaded it and tested it is a chilling piece of evidence. It confirms that at least in his mind, he was willing to use it."
The day of the robbery, Clarke bought a ski mask and stole a sweater and pants to facilitate the robbery and getaway, Woodcock said in recounting Clarke’s preparations. "His actions were designed to terrorize," the judge said. "He bought a ski mask to hide his identity and so the employees couldn’t see his facial expressions. He took the gun out and pointed it directly at the tellers. One said that the gun was six inches from her head. When the gun was retrieved by the police, it’s a chilling fact that there was a bullet in the chamber and four in the magazine."
After stopping and jumping out of his car, Clarke ran about 20 feet before he surrendered. The more than $11,000 he took from the bank was recovered. Clarke was indicted by a federal grand jury a few weeks later for armed bank robbery.
Clarke’s father and sister, Michael and Michelle Clarke, who sat directly behind the defendant, wept quietly as Woodcock imposed the sentence at the end of a four-hour hearing. A psychiatrist for the defense testified that Clarke suffered from schizophrenia and his family urged that he be sentenced to a facility where he could receive treatment for the illness. The prosecution countered that their psychologist had found that at the time of the robbery Clarke was able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions and did not diagnose schizophrenia. According to the Bangor Daily News, dressed in a dark dress suit, blue shirt and striped tie, Clarke on Tuesday looked more like a bank executive than a convicted criminal. He briefly addressed the court before being sentenced.
"I’d like to apologize to the bank tellers. I’m very sorry," he said. An emotional Michael Clarke, 50, asked that his son serve his time in a facility where his schizophrenia could be treated. He also asked that, if possible, his son be able to serve some of his sentence in Ireland close to friends and family.
After the hearing, Clarke leaned over the bar to hug his sister and father before being handcuffed and led back to jail. He is expected to be held at the Cumberland County Jail for the next few weeks until the U.S. Bureau of Prisons determines in which federal prison he will begin serving his sentence. After the sentencing, the Clarke family solicitor, Eugene O’Kelly of Kilrush, Ireland, spoke to the media outside the federal building in Bangor."Niall’s parents, Mike and Mary Clarke [who did not attend the hearing], are very relieved that the sentence has been finalized," he said. "They’re very grateful to friends and strangers alike who have supported them during this ordeal. Over the past year, they’ve been trying to come to terms with what has happen, but it’s been as if they were on some horror ride.
"What makes this so sad is that it could have been prevented," O’Kelly continued. "In a few short years, Niall’s gone from college to criminal, from prodigy to prison."O’Kelly said that the software company Clarke founded while a senior in college was recently sold for an undisclosed amount that probably would have made the computer whiz a very wealthy man.
ABOVE IMAGE: Eugene O'Kelly, left, the Irish attorney for Niall Clarke, addresses the press following Clarke's sentencing on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, in federal court in Bangor, Maine. The former academic standout received a sentence of nine years and nine months. Clarke's father, Michael Clarke, second from left, traveled from Ireland to be with his son during the sentencing. (Bangor Daily News)
