Courts / Wicklow / Report
Reformed criminal will go back to jail after DPP appeals leniency of suspended sentence
Summary
In 2009 Raymond O'Shea was given a wholly suspended sentence of three‑and‑a‑half years for possessing a sawn‑off shotgun and 131 cartridges. He had 19 prior convictions, including drug possession and burglary, but had stopped using drugs, was employed and paying a mortgage. He pleaded not guilty. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed, arguing the sentence was unduly lenient and that the judge had erred in allowing an exception to the mandatory five‑year minimum for unlawful firearm possession. The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, agreed with the DPP. Hardiman said the sentence should have been five years with four years suspended, describing the original suspended sentence as "extreme leniency". O'Shea will surrender to prison on 27 January to arrange his affairs.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Reformed criminal will go back to jail after DPP appeals leniency of suspended sentence. Charges or matters: the offences at his home on Sea Road in Arklow on November 15, 2007. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- July 2009 Incident
- November 15, 2007 Incident
- January 27 Incident
- 2014-01-20 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: the offences at his home on Sea Road in Arklow on November 15, 2007 (Alleged Or Contested)
Plea: Not guilty
Outcome: Raymond O'Shea was sentenced to three-and-a-half years suspended by Judge Michael O'Shea at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court for the possession of a shortened shotgun and 131 shotgun cartridges. Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, presiding at the Court of Criminal Appeal, today (Monday) said the court could not hold that a wholly suspended sentence imposed on a man who had acquired, serviced and tested an unlawfully held sawn-off shotgun was anything other than unduly lenient and would accede to the Director's application.
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