The Court of Appeal has upheld Joseph Cullen’s conviction for causing serious harm but reduced his prison sentence from 12 years to nine.
Cullen was convicted by a jury in November 2010 of causing serious harm to Kevin Byrne, contrary to section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. He appealed both the conviction and sentence. The Court of Appeal delivered judgment on 20 January 2015.
The case concerned an attack in the early hours of 2 March 2008 in Finglas. Byrne told the jury that a man he recognised as “Joey”, whom he had seen at Jackie White’s house shortly beforehand, pursued him from the house. Byrne said three men then beat him, and that he was struck by a car twice. The second impact drove over his right lower leg and foot. His right foot was later amputated.
Cullen admitted during Garda interviews that he had gone to White’s house and chased Byrne out. He denied assaulting him or driving the car. The Court of Appeal noted that the evidence did not establish Cullen was the driver, nor support an inference that he was. It also said the evidence did not establish that a green car Cullen had borrowed was the vehicle used in the attack.
Cullen argued that the trial judge should have withdrawn the serious-harm count from the jury, including because the prosecution had not made clear early enough that it relied on joint enterprise. The Court of Appeal held that the two counts were alternatives relating to one continuing course of conduct, and that the prosecution’s reliance on joint enterprise was apparent from the evidence and the way the case had been presented. It found the prosecution evidence, taken at its highest, was sufficient for a properly directed jury to convict. The court therefore dismissed the conviction appeal.
On sentence, the court found that the original judge had wrongly placed the offence at the upper end of the range for the most serious section 4 offences after taking account of mitigation. It said the attack appeared spontaneous rather than planned and that Cullen was not shown to have driven the car. The court also considered prison reports and course certificates submitted on appeal, including material about his participation in an Alternatives to Violence programme and counselling.
The Court of Appeal set aside the 12-year sentence and imposed nine years’ imprisonment, backdated to the date Cullen went into custody. It rejected the argument that part of the sentence should be suspended.