The Court of Appeal has increased the sentence imposed on I.A. for an assault aggravated by false imprisonment, finding that the original sentence failed to reflect the seriousness of the offending and was unduly lenient.
The court quashed the sentence imposed by the Central Criminal Court and resentenced I.A. to three and a half years in prison. It suspended the final six months for 18 months on the same conditions set by the lower court, noting that I.A. had undertaken relevant courses in prison.
The original sentence followed a trial in January 2023 on 13 alleged offences. The jury found I.A. guilty of assault causing harm, producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury, making a threat to kill or cause serious harm, and false imprisonment. It disagreed on five counts and acquitted I.A. on four others.
The offences occurred on 13 February 2019. The judgment said I.A. and the injured party had been in a relationship from 2010 to 2014 and had two children, but were no longer together when the offences occurred. The injured party had gone to I.A.’s home by arrangement. During an argument, I.A. punched and kicked her, held a broken bottle to her neck and threatened to kill her. The judgment said I.A. later blocked the front door and continued to punch and strangle her. The injured party used I.A.’s phone to call emergency services.
Gardaí arrived and found the injured party distressed. She was taken by ambulance for examination, which found a concussion and damage to her nasal bones. The judgment said I.A. had no previous convictions and was employed, but continued to deny the offences while accepting the jury’s verdict. A probation report assessed him at moderate risk of further intimate partner violence.
The sentencing judge had imposed a three-year headline sentence for the assault, taking the other offences into consideration, then reduced it to two and a half years and suspended the final six months for 18 months. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed, arguing the sentence was unduly lenient.
The Court of Appeal clarified that the three-year headline sentence had been imposed for the assault, not for false imprisonment alone. It said the sentencing judge could sentence globally but had to reflect the false imprisonment as an aggravating feature. The court also said the assault’s domestic setting had to be treated as aggravating under section 40 of the Domestic Violence Act 2018.
Setting a four-year headline sentence for the assault, aggravated by the false imprisonment and domestic context, the court reduced it by six months for the mitigating factors identified by the sentencing judge. The suspended portion remains subject to the lower court’s conditions, including probation appointments and engagement with offence-focused interventions.