Aaron Cassidy loses dangerous driving sentence appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Aaron Cassidy lost his appeal against his five-year custodial term for dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm. The full sentence was six years with 12 months suspended. The proceedings were reported on 1 July 2021.

Judge Keenan Johnson sentenced Cassidy at Longford Circuit Criminal Court in June 2020 for the offence against pedestrian Stephen Roche on Main Street, Edgeworthstown, on 10 September 2017. The judge reduced a headline sentence of eight years and six months to six years for mitigating factors, then suspended 12 months. Cassidy was also disqualified from driving for 10 years.

Cassidy also pleaded guilty to failing to report an accident to gardaí.

Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy in the Court of Appeal, described the sentence as very lenient. The court declined to increase it because it fell within the available range for the offence.

Defence counsel Kevin Fogarty SC argued that Cassidy was not driving fast, citing a forensic estimate of 14 km/h. He also disputed treating Cassidy’s subsequent travel to Britain as aggravating, saying there was no evidence he was evading arrest or knew gardaí wanted him. He said Cassidy returned when he learned he was being sought.

For the DPP, Shane Geraghty BL argued that gravity should be measured by the harm caused. He said there was evidence Cassidy accelerated at the collision and that the precise speed was irrelevant.

CCTV footage could not be shown in court because of technical problems. Mr Fogarty claimed it would have shown that the van was intended to pass close to Mr Roche without making contact, rather than being driven directly at him.