Dessie O'Hare withdraws appeal against sentence

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

Dessie O'Hare withdrew his appeal against the severity of his sentence after a warning from the Court of Appeal on 29 July 2021. The proceedings were reported on 29 July 2021.

In 2019, the Special Criminal Court sentenced O'Hare to ten years for falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne, with the final three years suspended for the rest of his life. It also sentenced him to three years for assaulting John Roche. The sentences were to run concurrently.

O'Hare admitted assaulting John Roche, causing him harm, at The Towers, Garter Lane, Saggart, County Dublin. He also pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne at Rathcoole and Saggart. Both offences took place on 9 June 2015. The court was asked to take into consideration two counts of falsely imprisoning Mr Byrne's wife and son.

At sentencing, Justice Tony Hunt described O'Hare as an organiser and high-level participant and said the court did not accept that the offending was isolated.

At the appeal, O'Hare's barrister, Dominic McGinn SC, argued that the sentencing court had placed too much emphasis on his previous offending. Court of Appeal President Justice George Birmingham said it was not obvious that the sentence was overly severe and that an argument could be made against a suspended sentence. After consulting his client, Mr McGinn said O'Hare had instructed him to withdraw the appeal.