The Court of Criminal Appeal refused Frank Ward leave to appeal his convictions and sentences, finding that he had not established a plausible ground of appeal. The judgment was delivered by Finnegan J. on 31 May 2011.
Ward had been charged with eight counts and pleaded guilty to five after the trial began on 17 October 2007 and 16 witnesses had given evidence. The offences included assault causing harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence, robbery, and two firearm offences involving intent to resist arrest. He received life sentences on two counts and 12 years on three others, all to run concurrently.
The court’s account of the offences said that on 6 October 2003, Charlie Chawke was leaving the Goat Grill public house in Goatstown to lodge cash and cheques when Ward approached with a shotgun and demanded the money. Chawke grabbed for the gun, fell from his car, and was shot in the leg. A Garda patrol arrived; after attempting to escape by car, Ward later fired at the patrol car at Stillorgan Heath. Chawke’s injuries were serious and his leg was amputated. The robbery count concerned cash and cheques valued at approximately €48,652.
Ward represented himself in the appeal and submitted extensive correspondence setting out his grounds. The court considered challenges to the trial’s jurisdiction and procedure, his arrest and detention, the indictment, jury matters, the evidence of injury, and his decision to plead guilty. It rejected the grounds, finding, among other things, that the charges were properly put to the jury, the firearms offences related to separate incidents, and oral evidence could prove the victim’s injuries without a medical certificate under the relevant provision.
On the guilty pleas, the court said Ward had made a conscious decision after hearing evidence from 12 prosecution witnesses and after applications to stop the prosecution had failed. It also held that he could not plead guilty and then challenge the trial court’s jurisdiction on the basis of the return for trial.
The court concluded that none of the grounds amounted to a plausible basis for appeal and refused leave to appeal. The judgment records no alteration to the original sentences.