Jake Breen loses appeal against sentence

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

Jake Breen lost his appeal against a five-year prison sentence at the Court of Appeal on 16 April 2018. The proceedings were reported on 16 April 2018.

Breen had pleaded guilty at Kilkenny Circuit Criminal Court to ten offences arising from events in Carlow and Kilkenny on 7 November 2016.

On 15 February 2017, Judge Brian O’Callaghan sentenced him to five years in prison, with the final year suspended, and disqualified him from driving for ten years. The sentence was consecutive to another sentence that expired in January 2018.

Giving background, Mr Justice George Birmingham said Breen had been using a Toyota Land Cruiser that had been taken some days earlier and fitted with false registration plates. The vehicle picked up a hitchhiker who was at the early stages of a world tour.

After the hitchhiker got out, the vehicle drove off with his property inside. He held onto its side and was thrown to the ground, suffering minor injuries, the judge said.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the Court of Appeal had no hesitation in dismissing the appeal and described the sentence as entirely appropriate given the seriousness of the incident.