The Court of Criminal Appeal has rejected Fergal Cagney's challenge to his conviction for reckless endangerment arising from an altercation near Portobello Bridge in Dublin which preceded the death of 19-year-old David Langan.
Cagney and his cousin Ronan McGrath were tried in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Cagney faced charges of manslaughter and reckless endangerment under section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.
The case arose after a confrontation involving Langan, McGrath and others following the closure of the Palace Nightclub on Camden Street. Evidence at trial described McGrath as pursuing and threatening Langan while Cagney initially attempted to calm the situation.
Thomas Rooney testified that McGrath later shouted at Cagney to hit Langan and that Cagney struck Langan twice on the head with the heel of a closed hand. Rooney described the blows as powerful. Another witness, Colm Burgess, described seeing Langan fall backwards onto the road and hearing his head strike it, although he could not say definitely what caused the fall.
Langan died in Beaumont Hospital on August 30, 2000 from head injuries. Cagney was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted by majority verdict of endangerment on June 26, 2002 and sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment.
His appeal argued that the trial judge should have withdrawn the endangerment charge from the jury because the evidence could not establish the necessary intention or recklessness, or conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious harm.
The appeal court disagreed. It held that, when considering an application to withdraw a charge, the evidence must be viewed at the prosecution's highest reasonable point. On that basis there was evidence from which a jury could find that Cagney intentionally or recklessly engaged in conduct creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death.
The conviction appeal was therefore dismissed. The judgment expressly notes that Cagney's separate grounds appealing his sentence had not yet been argued.