Man has suspended sentence doubled for violent disorder at grandfather's funeral

A 27-year-old man from Letterkenny, County Donegal, has had his suspended sentence for violent disorder doubled by the Court of Appeal. Johnny McDonagh was convicted in Castlebar Circuit Court following a trial relating to an incident at his grandfather's funeral in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo on 16 June 2016. The court heard he had been sentenced to three years suspended in February 2019, but the trial judge had been mistaken about the sentence imposed on a co-accused. The Court of Appeal found this error had resulted in a manifestly inadequate sentence. The court quashed the original three-year suspended sentence and imposed a new six-year sentence, suspended for five years. The president of the Court of Appeal remarked that McDonagh now has a substantial suspended sentence and must avoid further trouble.