The Court of Appeal has dismissed Rebecca McNamara’s appeal against the severity of a five-year sentence for robbery, agreeing that the final year should remain suspended.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Hedigan on 10 May 2018, said the sentencing judge may not have followed best practice in setting out the rationale for the sentence. But the appeal court found no error of principle and upheld the sentence.
McNamara had pleaded guilty to robbing a man of €200 and a Nokia mobile phone on 14 May 2016 in a lane off Davis Street in Limerick. The victim, who was in his 60s and recovering from heart surgery, was struck from behind, knocked down and kicked during the attack. He declined hospital treatment after an ambulance arrived.
The appeal court said the sentencing judge could have set a sentence of between five and seven years. It described the attack as violent and directed at a vulnerable man. Aggravating factors included the victim’s age and vulnerability, the violence, the planned nature of the offence and McNamara’s previous convictions.
The court also considered mitigating factors, including her guilty plea, admissions, remorse, age at the time and difficult personal circumstances. The sentencing judge had heard that she engaged in education and drug treatment while in custody. The appeal court said her guilty plea spared the victim the ordeal of a trial, while also noting that she had initially sought to place blame on her co-accused.
The sentencing judge imposed five years’ imprisonment, suspended the final 12 months on conditions of good behaviour and keeping the peace for five years, and backdated the sentence to 2 June 2016. The appeal was confined to the sentence’s severity; the Court of Appeal dismissed it and left the sentence in place.