The Court of Appeal has dismissed Oliver Kennaway’s appeal against a four-year sentence, with the final year suspended, for a 2013 robbery at a Dundalk filling station. The sentence therefore remained in place, leaving a net custodial term of three years.
Kennaway pleaded guilty at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court on 23 June 2015 to robbing the Castletown Road Filling Station. The offence took place on 27 July 2013 at about 3.30pm. The judgment says he entered wearing a hoodie pulled over his face, pointed a large knife at an employee and took money from the till. He ran away and was chased by another employee. A total of €355 was later recovered; €145 was not. Discarded clothing was also recovered, and DNA analysis matched it to Kennaway.
At sentencing, the judge imposed the four-year term on 28 January 2016, suspending its final year on conditions. The judge accepted that chronic drug addiction motivated the robbery and identified planning and the threatening use of a knife among the aggravating circumstances. Mitigating factors included Kennaway’s guilty plea, cooperation, admissions, remorse and steps to address his addiction.
Kennaway challenged the sentence on three grounds: that there was no evidence of planning; that the robbery had wrongly been placed in the upper range of such offences; and that the sentence was unduly severe. The Court of Appeal rejected those arguments.
It said the facts supported a finding of some planning: Kennaway had concealed his face and brought a knife. The court noted that the robbery need not have been planned long in advance or in detail, but could not be described as opportunistic.
The appeal court said the sentencing judge had not followed best practice by setting out a headline sentence before allowing for mitigating factors. It considered that a headline sentence of five to seven years would have been appropriate and within the judge’s discretion at the time. But it said the judge’s description of the offence as falling in the higher range was not reflected in the sentence ultimately imposed.
The court concluded that a three-year net custodial sentence for this type of offence was not unduly harsh and dismissed the appeal. It also noted that Kennaway was working towards rehabilitation in prison, including having passed the Leaving Certificate history paper.