The Court of Appeal has dismissed Noel McLoughlin’s appeal against a five-year prison sentence for carrying a firearm with criminal intent. The court held that the sentencing judge did not err in setting the sentence after considering the guilty plea and other mitigating factors.
McLoughlin had pleaded guilty to carrying a firearm with criminal intent and attempted robbery. The offences arose from an incident on 14 September 2023 at a service station on the Dublin Road in County Longford. The Court of Appeal said evidence before the sentencing court was that a hooded man pointed a firearm at the station’s owner, then pointed it at him again after he chased the man from the premises. The owner feared for the safety of himself and his staff.
The firearm was described in the judgment as a 6mm imitation air revolver with four inserts resembling ammunition. DNA taken from it matched McLoughlin’s profile. He initially gave “no comment” answers in interviews, then made admissions after being shown CCTV footage.
The Longford Circuit Court imposed the sentence on 11 January 2024. It set a headline sentence of seven years and six months for the firearm offence, then took account of mitigation including the signed guilty plea, McLoughlin’s limited education and addiction issues. The attempted robbery count was taken into consideration. The sentencing judge said the offending was in the mid-range of gravity and declined to suspend any part of the sentence, noting that it occurred while McLoughlin was serving a suspended sentence.
On appeal, McLoughlin argued, among other grounds, that the judge gave insufficient credit for the plea and other mitigation and placed too much weight on punishment. At the appeal hearing, his counsel accepted that the headline sentence and the judge’s assessment of the Garda investigation as aggravating factors were within the judge’s discretion. The appeal court also found no basis to suspend part of the sentence, given McLoughlin’s history of suspended sentences and that the offences were committed during one of them.
The court said there is no fixed discount for a signed guilty plea: its weight depends on the timing and circumstances of each case. It concluded that the evidence did not warrant a one-third reduction for the plea alone, and that the sentencing judge had properly reached the five-year term after considering all mitigating factors. The appeal was dismissed.