Cameron Curtis's sentence for attacks on partner ruled unduly lenient

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

The Court of Appeal ruled on 18 January 2024 that Cameron Curtis’s sentence for assaults and false imprisonment of his partner was unduly lenient. The proceedings were reported on 18 January 2024.

Curtis pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Alannah Corrigan, causing her harm, at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire on 19 July 2022. He also admitted seven counts of assault causing harm and one count of false imprisonment of Corrigan on 12, 13, 14 and 16 August at locations in Binary Hub on Bonham Street, Dublin 8.

Judge Orla Crowe imposed concurrent sentences of two years and six months after mitigation, suspending the final 12 months for two years in the interests of rehabilitation. That left 18 months in custody. The report said Curtis had served the sentence after spending around 14 months in prison; it had been backdated to September 2022.

The report said Curtis repeatedly punched and kicked Corrigan, spat in her face and strangled her. She told gardaí she believed she was going to die when he locked her in a bathroom and said he was going to get scissors. During one phase of the attacks, he knelt on her chest and threatened to kill her.

Simon Matthews BL, for the State, argued that both the headline sentence and the final custodial term were unduly lenient. Barry White SC, for Curtis, accepted that the sentence was lenient but disputed that it was unduly lenient. White referred to Curtis’s violent family background, his lack of previous convictions and his engagement with probation.

Presiding judge Mr Justice George Birmingham said the three-judge appeal court wanted an updated probation report before finalising matters. Curtis was absent from the hearing because of illness, and the case was adjourned to 1 March.