DPP sentence challenge dismissed in Edward Wall and Patrick Wall case

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

The Court of Appeal dismissed the DPP’s application to review the sentences imposed on Edward Wall and Patrick Wall on 4 November 2016. Delivering the judgment, Mr. Justice Edwards said the sentences, although lenient, had not been demonstrated to be unduly lenient.

Each man received four years’ imprisonment for burglary, with the final year suspended upon conditions, and a concurrent three-year sentence for attempted burglary. Both sentences dated from 5 February 2016; the eligible report establishes their commencement date rather than the date they were imposed.

Both men pleaded guilty before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of burglary under section 12 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 and one count of attempted burglary contrary to common law. The proceedings were reported on 4 November 2016.

The offences occurred on 31 October 2014. The burglary of a house in Drogheda was followed by the attempted burglary of a house at Woodgrange, Painstown, Co Meath.

The appeal court said an undue-leniency finding required a clear divergence from the sentencing norm caused by an obvious error of principle. It found the DPP had not discharged that burden.