Judge says he cannot review attempted murder sentence after Supreme Court ruling

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

A man’s attempted murder sentence was due for review at the Central Criminal Court on 24 March 2025, but a Supreme Court ruling meant the sentencing court could not review its own sentence. The man, who cannot be named, was 23 at the time of the hearing.

He had pleaded guilty in 2019 to the attempted murder of Stephanie Ng in Dún Laoghaire on 23 December 2017, when he was 15. He received 11 years in detention, backdated to December 2017, initially with a review after five years.

On 29 July 2020, the Court of Appeal increased the review period from five to seven years, with the review set for 2025. It also ordered assessments of the defendant every two years.

At the hearing on 24 March 2025, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said that, without a review, the court could not impose post-release supervision. He said the case “cries out for supervision” and expressed concern about the defendant’s mental health. At the request of lawyers for both sides, he listed the matter for mention on 4 April 2025, while saying he had no function in relation to the sentence.