The Court of Appeal reduced Frederick Lee’s sentence for escaping from lawful custody to 10 months, to run concurrently with the life sentence he continues to serve. It said the new sentence could be considered served, as Lee had spent one year and four months in Wheatfield Prison since the operative date of the escape sentence.
Lee pleaded guilty in December 2016 to escaping from lawful custody, a common-law offence. Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court imposed a three-year sentence, backdated to 19 July 2016, the date he was arrested in the United Kingdom. Lee appealed on the ground that the sentence was too severe.
The Court of Appeal said Lee had been held at Shelton Abbey open prison from September 2015 and was discovered missing on 4 March 2016. He was found at his daughter’s address in the UK, which was known to authorities, and returned to Ireland under a European Arrest Warrant. The court said he had been at large for three and a half months, had not received inside or outside assistance, and committed no criminal or reprehensible behaviour while away. He did not surrender.
Lee’s appeal argued that the sentencing judge gave too much weight to aggravating factors and set an excessive starting sentence of five to six years. His lawyers also submitted that the judge did not give sufficient weight to his rehabilitation, guilty plea and the effect of the conviction on his prospect of release on licence. The Director of Public Prosecutions argued that there was no identifiable error of principle and the sentence was not excessive.
The Court of Appeal said the trial judge had no Irish escape-sentencing authorities to guide him and had not been shown relevant English decisions. It considered two of those cases helpful, including one involving escape from an open prison. The court said Lee’s escape involved some planning, as the sentencing judge had found, but no violence, damage or assistance. It also noted personal reasons for the escape.
The court concluded the case should have attracted a sentence measured in months rather than years. It found an error in principle and resentenced Lee to 10 months, concurrent with his life sentence. The appeal court’s order replaced the three-year term; it did not alter the life sentence.