A man who twice tried to have his estranged wife killed has been jailed for seven years. Patrick Rafferty (39), a haulier, Ballina, Co Tipperary, offered an undercover garda €15,000 to kill his wife by faking a road accident, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Rafferty pleaded guilty to soliciting Det Garda Patrick Crowley to murder his wife, Mary Rafferty, on February 7th, 2005, at an area between the Five Alleys public house, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and Daly's Cross, Castleconnell, Co Limerick.
The father of three, who changed his plea to guilty after a jury was sworn in for his trial last November, offered the detective €15,000 and indicated that he could probably come up with another €5,000, the court heard yesterday.
Supt John Scanlon told the court that Rafferty suggested to the undercover garda that he stage a road traffic incident in which he would "run her car off the road".
Rafferty told Det Garda Crowley that if this was not successful, he was to "do her neck in" at which point he made a choking gesture.
This was not the first time that Rafferty had attempted to solicit somebody to kill his wife, according to Supt Scanlon's evidence.
Five months earlier he paid €8,000 to a well-known criminal who "saw him as a soft touch" and ripped him off.
The court heard that this earlier attempt was admitted by Rafferty during a series of interviews which followed his arrest on February 7th, 2005.
Before imposing the seven-year sentence yesterday, Mr Justice Paul Carney said the fact that Rafferty had persisted with his endeavour despite being "conned" on the first occasion was an aggravating factor in the case.
During his evidence Supt Scanlon said it was fortunate that the defendant had made contact with somebody on the higher level of criminality who saw him as a "soft touch" and not someone on the lower end who might have "consummated the agreement".
The court heard how Det Garda Crowley went to meet Rafferty in the car park of the Five Alleys p-ub in Nenagh on foot of confidential information received by Det Garda Éamonn O'Neill.
When he arrived, the defendant asked the undercover garda "if he was a friend of Mr T's", which was the agreed introduction, the court heard.
They then travelled for about 13 miles in Rafferty's four-wheel drive and it was during this journey that Rafferty suggested that his wife be killed in a staged car accident, the court heard.
Ms Rafferty was to be choked by Det Garda Crowley "if the accident wasn't successful".
Mr Justice Carney told the court the offence to which Rafferty had admitted was "fortunately" still a rare one in this jurisdiction.
He had considered two decisions made in similar cases in England and three in Ireland while contemplating the appropriate sentence.
One of the Irish cases he considered was the high-profile Catherine Nevin case, where a seven-year sentence was handed down in relation to a charge of soliciting to kill, in addition to her life sentence for murder.
Mr Justice Carney said he had taken into account Rafferty's guilty plea and the fact that he was of previous good character before this incident.
However, the fact that he had persisted with his endeavour despite being conned on the first occasion, and that he had suggested a "fall-back position" in case the car accident failed were aggravating factors, according to the judge.
Mr Justice Carney jailed Rafferty for seven years and refused a request by Brendan Nix SC, defending, to suspend any of the sentence.
Leave to appeal was also refused.