Sentence almost halved for man who caused serious, permanent injuries to fellow drinker

Michael Lyons, aged 55, of Currin, Glencolmcille, County Donegal, has had his prison sentence reduced on appeal at the Court of Appeal. Lyons pleaded guilty at Letterkenny Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing serious harm following an incident at Quiggs bar, Carrick, on 12 October 2013. He was originally sentenced to four years imprisonment in June 2016. The Court of Appeal has now reduced his sentence to two years and three months. Mr Justice John Hedigan found that the sentencing judge had erred in law by assessing the offence as falling within the lower end of the middle range but then imposing a sentence equivalent to six years. The court agreed the offence fell within the lower middle range, equivalent to four years. The victim sustained a serious and permanent traumatic brain injury as a result. Mitigating factors included Lyons' guilty plea, remorse, lack of previous convictions, cooperation with gardaí, and his immediate assistance to the injured party.