Robber wins cut in prison sentence

Feb 9 2008 by Clare Hickie, Liverpool Daily Post

A RUNCORN man who terrified a shop assistant during a knife raid at a Warrington off-licence has won a cut in his sentence.

Michael Anthony McGunigle, of Chichester Close, received a total six-year term at Chester Crown Court last October after he was convicted of robbery and perverting the course of justice.

Mr Justice Field, sitting with Sir Peter Cresswell in London’s Appeal Court, said McGunigle, 28, raided the off-licence in Cawdor Street, Warrington, last February, terrifying the assistant with a 10-inch knife and fleeing with more than £500 in cash.

The perverting the course of justice charge related to McGunigle’s subsequent attempt to secure a false alibi.

Mr Justice Field said McGunigle’s victim had been terrified, but concluded the sentence for the robbery was “somewhat too high” and cut it from six to five years.