The Court of Appeal has dismissed Daniel O’Brien’s appeal against a four-year prison sentence for two endangerment offences committed during a reckless drive through Cork.
The judgment, delivered on 17 May 2021, upheld the sentence imposed by the Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The appeal court found no error of principle in the way the sentencing judge dealt with mitigation or declined to suspend part of the sentence.
The offences arose from a February 2019 incident on South Douglas Road. Garda evidence was that O’Brien drove at speed towards a checkpoint, swerving at Garda Ryan Dillon, whose hand was clipped by the car’s wing mirror. O’Brien continued towards Cork City, drove through a red light and narrowly avoided hitting Brenda O’Malley, who was crossing with a child’s buggy. She pulled the buggy back onto the footpath.
O’Brien pleaded guilty to two counts of endangerment, driving without insurance and driving without a licence. The licence offence was taken into consideration, and two other counts were discontinued by nolle prosequi. The Circuit Court imposed four years’ imprisonment for the endangerment offences and six months for driving without insurance, with a 12-year driving disqualification. The judgment does not state whether the prison terms were concurrent.
On appeal, O’Brien argued that the sentence was excessive and that the sentencing judge had given insufficient weight to mitigation and rehabilitation. The Court of Appeal accepted that the judge had not specified a starting sentence before applying mitigation. It said that would have been preferable, but did not justify intervention. The appeal court inferred that the starting point could not have been below six years, meaning the four-year sentence reflected an estimated one-third reduction.
The court considered the guilty pleas, O’Brien’s presentation at Togher Garda Station after the incident, his expressions of remorse and his efforts to address addiction issues in custody. It concluded these circumstances did not warrant a greater reduction. The evidence of rehabilitation was limited, with no reports or witnesses put before the court to establish a track record of progress.
The court also upheld the refusal to suspend part of the sentence. It said the sentencing judge could take account of the fact that O’Brien had committed the offences while still disqualified under an earlier eight-year driving ban. The appeal was dismissed.