Brandon Power assault sentencing adjourned by Court of Appeal

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

Brandon Power’s sentencing for assaulting a garda was adjourned by the Court of Appeal on 12 October 2021 until 13 December, pending an updated probation report.

Power pleaded guilty to assaulting the garda. The proceedings were reported on 12 October 2021. He had bitten the officer during a courtroom struggle at Wicklow Circuit Court on 31 March 2018, breaking his finger.

On 11 April 2019, Judge Terence O’Sullivan imposed a one-year sentence, suspended for 12 months. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed it as too lenient, and the Court of Appeal agreed.

The court had required Power to cooperate with probation, attend appointments and provide regular urinalysis. Mr Justice George Birmingham said any prospect of leniency also depended on him staying out of trouble. He warned Power to expect a prison sentence even if he engaged positively, and that he risked a significantly more severe penalty if he did not cooperate.

At the adjourned hearing, Justin McQuade BL, for Power, said his client had engaged with probation services since the last adjournment and attended all his scheduled meetings. The court was told an updated probation report would take six to eight weeks to prepare.