2025-11-20
Armed robber whose threat demands victim later committed suicide fails in appeal
Stage: Appeal
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Kelly, of Monaseed Demesne, Gorey, Co Wexford, was sentenced last June by Judge James McCourt at Wexford Courthouse to six years in prison, having pleaded guilty to demanding money with menaces. Mr Justice Collins said that the appellant had not shown that the sentencing court had erred in its assessment of the gravity of the offence and of Kelly's culpability. "Whilst a court may suspend part or all of a sentence to reflect factors in mitigation, it is not required to do so," he said, adding that the circuit court chose to take account of the mitigating factors by affording the appellant a 25% reduction from the headline sentence.