The Court of Appeal reduced Joseph McInerney’s sentence for endangerment after finding the original term somewhat out of line with other endangerment sentences reviewed by the court. It substituted four years’ imprisonment, suspending the final year on condition that McInerney enter a €100 bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months after release. His 12-year driving disqualification remains in place.
The appeal challenged the severity of the sentence imposed after McInerney pleaded guilty to endangerment under section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. The original sentence, imposed on 2 February 2016, was six years in prison, with the final two years suspended for four years subject to conditions including good behaviour, abstaining from alcohol and illegal drugs, and supervision by the Probation Service after release. He was also disqualified from driving for 12 years.
The offence arose from an incident in Templemore on 21 July 2015. The judgment recounts Garda evidence that McInerney, who was disqualified from driving, drove away at high speed when approached by Garda Declan Kinsella and drove recklessly through town while being pursued. The evidence described him crossing the centre line, failing to stop at junctions, passing a pony and trap carrying adults and children at high speed, and narrowly avoiding a collision with a jeep. A woman getting a child from a car seat reportedly jumped into the car to avoid being struck. The gardaí later lost sight of the vehicle in a wooded area; McInerney was subsequently arrested and charged with a number of offences.
The appeal argued that the sentence was excessive, including in light of sentences in cases involving dangerous driving causing death or serious injury. It also disputed the condition that a drink after release could activate the suspended sentence. The Court of Appeal found merit in both arguments and proceeded to a fresh sentencing hearing.
The court noted evidence that McInerney had completed health and first-aid and anger-management programmes in prison, and had been told he was about to start a parenting course. The judgment also records that the original sentencing judge had wanted documentary evidence that McInerney was addressing his drug problem; a probation report said he was not doing so in prison as he had claimed. The appeal judgment replaced the original prison term and suspension arrangement, while expressly leaving the 12-year driving disqualification unchanged.