The Court of Appeal has replaced a fully suspended three-year sentence imposed on Paul McGillian with a three-year prison term, suspending the final two years. The result is one year to be served in custody.
The court ruled on 26 February 2018 that the original sentence for reckless endangerment was unduly lenient under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. It also noted a five-year driving disqualification imposed for dangerous driving. The appeal concerned the sentences; the judgment does not alter the respondent’s guilty pleas and convictions for reckless endangerment, dangerous driving, drink driving, driving without insurance and driving without a valid licence.
The offences took place in Letterkenny at about 3am on 25 July 2015. The judgment says the respondent drove at high speed after Gardaí tried to stop his car. When officers cornered the vehicle in a lane, he reversed at speed and struck Garda Kilcoyne’s right upper leg. He then drove towards a Garda car, forcing five officers to move out of its way. Garda Kilcoyne suffered severe injuries that affected his personal and professional life and ended his previously active sporting life, the court said. The respondent was over the drink-driving limit, uninsured, unlicensed and disqualified from driving.
The sentencing judge had set a five-year headline sentence, reduced it to three years and suspended the whole term. The judge cited the respondent’s rehabilitation, employment and family circumstances. The Court of Appeal accepted that he had made a notable turnaround and that the case called for considerable leniency. It also stressed the seriousness of the injury to Garda Kilcoyne and the respondent’s extensive record of previous convictions, including offences involving assaults on police officers.
The court held that this offending required some custody, save in the most exceptional circumstances, and found no such circumstances here. It said it would not have interfered had the original judge suspended the final 12 months of the three-year term. In resentencing, however, the court allowed for the added punitive effect of facing sentence twice and returning to custody after a period of freedom. It imposed three years’ imprisonment, with the final two years suspended on similar terms to those set by the sentencing court.