Court explains Shane Millea’s reduced manslaughter sentence

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

The Court of Appeal gave reasons on 6 May 2016 for reducing Shane Millea’s manslaughter sentence to eight years, with the final three suspended. Ms. Justice Finlay Geoghegan delivered the judgment. The appeal had been allowed and the reduced sentence imposed on 1 December 2014.

Millea was originally charged with murder. On 12 March 2012, he pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter, a plea accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The offence occurred on 2 December 2010. The victim, Paul Harris, was his cousin and good friend.

Sentencing submissions were heard on 30 April 2012. On 8 May 2012, Millea received ten years’ imprisonment with two years suspended. The replacement sentence ran from 2 December 2010, when he entered custody. Immediate re-sentencing was requested to facilitate an application to prison authorities for compassionate release because of his mother’s illness.

The appeal court held that the sentencing judge had wrongly placed the offence at the upper end of the mid-range of manslaughter offences rather than the mid-range. It also found nothing in the sentencing remarks indicating that Millea’s genuine remorse had been taken into account.

The judgment recorded Millea’s account that Harris attacked him with an axe and that he stabbed Harris to protect himself until the attack ceased. An axe was found at the scene, and the evidence recorded a soft-tissue injury to Millea’s left arm from the axe handle. Harris died from blood loss after a stab wound severed his femoral artery.

Gardaí found Millea performing CPR on Harris under telephone instruction from the fire brigade service. Evidence concerning his emergency call described him as extremely upset and concerned for his cousin’s welfare.