The Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals by Gerard Morey and Declan Price against the severity of sentences imposed after a jury convicted them of offences arising from a burglary and assault in Tipperary town.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 26 November 2018, the court said it could identify no error in principle in the sentencing decisions. It found the sentences were within the range available to the sentencing judge. The appeals were dismissed; the court did not alter the sentences.
Price was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for burglary, three years for assault causing harm and three years for producing an article under section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990. The terms ran concurrently, with the final three years suspended. Morey received eight years for burglary, three years for assault causing harm and four months for assault under section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. His terms also ran concurrently, with the final three years suspended. Both sentences were backdated to 8 December 2016.
The court’s account was that Price entered an occupied house through an open window on 23 May 2015. A resident alerted others, and her partner, identified in the judgment as Mr Wang, tried to restrain Price. Price punched and kicked him and picked up a hammer. Morey then entered through a window to help Price. The two men punched and kicked Wang before leaving. Wang was taken to hospital with a fractured upper jaw, head swelling and a bleeding nose. The judgment said no victim impact reports were before the court.
The court noted Price had 49 previous convictions, including three for burglary, while Morey had 23, including two section 2 assault convictions. It also considered mitigation presented at sentencing, including expressions of remorse, apologies, rehabilitation efforts and substance abuse treatment. Morey offered €1,000 in compensation; the same amount was offered on Price’s behalf.
The appellants argued that the sentencing judge had assessed the gravity of the offences too highly and given too little weight to mitigation. Morey also challenged the use of his physical size in assessing culpability and the consideration of his separate assault on a Garda. The Court of Appeal held that the judge had properly assessed the seriousness of the offences and the mitigating material, and had distinguished between the men’s roles. It concluded that the sentences were available and dismissed both appeals.