A CARJACKER who terrified his victims, including a woman and her six-year-old daughter, has been jailed for seven and a half years.
The little girl was left so traumatised she will now only sleep with the lights on.
Niall Kiernan's crime spree spanned 15 months and with others he targeted victims who owned high-powered vehicles in the Rochdale area.
He would strike as they got out of their cars or break into their homes to search for the keys.
Who else has been sent to prison in January? Sentences and photo gallery
At Bolton Crown Court Kiernan, of Buttermere Drive, Middleton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.
Another man, Arran Crossan, aged 19, of Boarshaw Clough Way, Middleton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and affray and was sentenced to three years and nine months.
Crossan moved the cars once they had been stolen.
In one incident in April last year a Vauxhall Astra VXR was stolen from a house in Victoria Avenue East.
A 37-year-old woman was in the house, with her daughter, aged six, and they were awoken by the front door being smashed open.
She saw two masked men, one brandishing a golf club, in the hallway and they demanded the car keys.
Trauma
In a statement the victim said: “The incident was frightening enough for me as an adult, to see people armed with weapons enter my home where I should feel safe, but the trauma to my daughter was unthinkable.
“She will now only sleep with the lights on and is wary of every sound. Before the incident she felt secure in her home and slept soundly at night, but now she is aware of realities a six-year-old really shouldn't be aware of.”
In another incident in March 2008 a 39-year-old man was threatened by men who robbed his Saab Sports Estate. He was battered with a metal pole and needed surgery after suffering injuries to his arms and legs.
In May 2008 a 61-year-old woman was getting into her Mini Cooper convertible in Suffield Street car park in Middleton when she was flung out of her vehicle by a masked man who then drove off.
In June 2009 a man was asleep at his house in Moorgate Avenue, Bamford, when men broke in and stole the keys to his S-line Audi S3. They threatened a neighbour with a metal bar when he came outside after hearing the noise.
Crossan pleaded guilty to affray after he threatened a taxi driver and kicked his car on Old Hall Street, Middleton in August last year.
He also admitted moving an Alfa Romeo and a Volkswagen Golf R32 that were stolen from outside a house on Midge Hall Drive in Bamford in May last year after masked men armed with a metal bar made the owners hand over their keys.
Detective Sergeant Martin Soutter said: “Two very dangerous criminals have been brought to justice following an intensive police investigation.
“Kiernan was relentless in his addiction to steal high-powered cars. The sentence he has received is a reflection of the anguish he put his victims through.”
Who else has been sent to prison in January? Sentences and photo gallery
Carjack thug who terrified mum and girl jailed
January 11, 2010
Comments
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looks as though butter wouldnt melt in his mouth, pity this low life didnt get an iron bar on his head and knocked some sense into him!!!
Bit dissapointed his ears didnt stick out.
Bit dissapointed his ears didnt stick out.
chillbill, oldham
11/01/2010 at 12:10
I thought that at first, but bizarrely his left one is showing sticky out tendencies...
he will be out in 3
7 1/2 years is that all he will be out in 3 maximum, low life like him should be put away for life to protect the public.
I bet his family are very proud of him.
The ear thing is wearing a bit thin now. Time to grow up. My main concern in this is the fear and trauma the poor little 6 year old girl and her mother endured. So this is how you come to be a hard case today is it? Just go around terrorising women and children. Bet his mates think he is soooooo! Hard.......Not.
Still has a peanut shaped head, albeit with a bit more hair than is the norm. His ears don't quite fit the bill either, except for his left ear, as has been pointed out.
Perhaps he is in the process of evolving one way or the other, evolving into a normal human worthy of sharing my oxygen, or evolving into a full blown jug eared peanut headed low life oxygen thief.
What use is scum like this to society?. Whilst this trash goes about his filthy business, other young men in uniform are prepared to put life and limb on the line for this country, one which positively encourage the scum such as this trash, with lenient punishment. Pity Kiernan and his ilk can not be used for military target practice, It would probably double recruit numbers.
Anothere jug eared waist of space fetch back hanging they are not worth writing about scum with mallet heads ,nothing inside the cranium possibly scooped out at birth and let loose on society moron
Surely if we had the birch maybe this lad could have been saved from committing these crimes? while these people know they can do anything and walk away from courts with fines or ASBOS ect .Nothing is going to change until we take these crimes serious and stop the problems when they first start.Its time to stop these young criminals getting away with low level crime when they are young.
this is such a serious offence the punishment can only be life so why on earth will he serve around 4 years! like other postings on this story said, no wonder they commit these crimes there is no real deterrent - judges get a grip and put these animals away for life because i bet my mortgage this scum bag will strike again when he is out !
If he likes driving cars let him, on the roads of afghanistan in front of troop convoys detecting roadside bombs, there found a use for him.
scum off the earth, they should be made to sign up for the army... ill bet the parents have an excuse for them like there bored there no jobs about scuuuuuuuum kath
Quote - scum off the earth, they should be made to sign up for the army...
Just why the heck should the armed forces have to put up with scum like that. Don't you think you comment is rather demeaning to those that serve their country with their lives!!!