Gavin Sheehan loses appeal against shooting conviction

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

Gavin Sheehan’s appeal against his conviction for shooting a woman in the neck through a Cork city house window was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. The proceedings were reported on 26 May 2020.

The shooting took place on 15 May 2016. Sheehan denied all charges. He was found guilty of possession of a firearm and ammunition, reckless discharge of a firearm and assault causing serious harm to Ciara Sheehan, who was not related to him.

On 14 February 2017, Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin sentenced him to 14 years in prison, suspending the final three years.

Sheehan appealed against his conviction, arguing that the case rested on circumstantial evidence and that forensic evidence relating to the firearm was lacking. His barrister, Patrick McGrath SC, said the bullet could not be connected to the firearm and a recovered casing was several houses away. He also raised discrepancies in recorded times and argued that an explanation should have been offered at trial.

Lawyers for the DPP said the discrepancies were for the jury to resolve and that forensic evidence linked the bullet to the type of gun from which it was fired.

McGrath also argued that the trial judge had erred by refusing to let Sheehan’s lawyers come off record. The appeal court found that the judge had erred on that issue but rejected the other grounds. It found no miscarriage of justice and affirmed the conviction. Justice John Edwards presided with Justice Patrick McCarthy and Justice Isobel Kennedy.