The High Court ruled that a three-month prison sentence imposed consecutively to an earlier term began when John Wilkinson successfully entered an appeal against that earlier sentence. It concluded that his continued detention was lawful.
Mr Justice White delivered the ex tempore judgment on 3 May 2016, following an Article 40 inquiry. Wilkinson had sought the inquiry on 28 April, and it was conducted the following day.
Wilkinson had been convicted after a contested hearing at Carlow District Court on 20 January 2016 of assault causing harm. He received a nine-month sentence. Recognisances for an appeal were fixed at €1,000 in his own bond and a €250 cash lodgement, but he did not appeal immediately.
On 13 April, while in custody, he was convicted after a contested hearing at Athlone District Court of driving without insurance and sentenced to three months in prison, consecutive to the Carlow sentence. The warrant stated that the later term was to be served after the legal expiration of the nine-month sentence.
Wilkinson was granted an extension of time to appeal the Carlow conviction and sentence on 20 April, and completed the appeal papers on 28 April. The Governor of the Midlands Prison continued to hold him under the three-month sentence. Wilkinson argued that the warrant made the later sentence dependent on the legal expiration of the Carlow term. The Governor argued that an appeal required a fresh warrant if the sentence, or any part of it, was later ordered to be served. Wilkinson also argued that uncertainty about when the later sentence began made its warrant void.
The court considered District and Circuit Court rules governing appeals, recognisances and warrants, along with authorities cited by both sides. It accepted that warrants of execution require strict scrutiny. The judgment said the three-month sentence itself was certain and had not been appealed; the issue was when it began.
The court held that where a warrant has been issued and executed before notice of appeal and recognisances, successfully entering the appeal suspends the earlier sentence pending the Circuit Court’s decision. If another consecutive sentence has not been appealed, that later sentence begins on the date the appeal is successfully entered. The court concluded that Wilkinson was in legal detention. The judgment does not state a separate order releasing him or otherwise changing his custody.