Eugene Hanratty Snr loses conviction and sentence appeals

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

Eugene Hanratty Snr lost his appeals against his conviction and sentence for assault causing harm when the Court of Appeal dismissed both appeals on 21 March 2024.

Hanratty had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Martin McAllister, causing him harm, at Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, on 24 November 2012. A jury convicted him on 19 October 2022.

He was sentenced to four years, with one year suspended, leaving three years to serve. The Court of Appeal heard that the sentencing judge had reduced a five-year headline sentence by one year in mitigation and suspended a further year.

McAllister told the trial that Hanratty punched and kicked him, dragged him from his vehicle and continued kicking him on the ground. His right arm was stamped on. He suffered multiple facial fractures, including fractures to both eye sockets, and permanent loss of peripheral vision in one eye.

During an earlier trial, a garda sought to introduce a third-hand account that McAllister had objected to Hanratty shooting in a duck sanctuary and that the men had fought. Judge Martin Nolan criticised the attempt to introduce that account. On appeal, Justice George Birmingham said an earlier incident over duck shooting could not be considered provocation.

For Hanratty, Sean Guerin SC argued that investigative failures, including lost material and a possible error in identifying the scene, had hampered the defence. Justice Birmingham said the trial judge was correct to leave the case with the jury and that the appeal arguments did not cause the court to doubt the fairness of the trial or the safety of the verdict.

The sentence appeal cited Hanratty’s age, good character, community activity and 41 letters of recommendation. Justice Birmingham found no basis to regard the sentence as unduly severe.