The Court of Appeal has upheld a four-year prison sentence imposed on Alan O’Keeffe for an unprovoked glass attack that left a man with severe permanent facial injuries in a Dungarvan bar.
O’Keeffe was convicted by a jury in May 2013 of assault causing harm to Alan Hogan at the Anchor Bar. He was sentenced at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court that October to four years’ imprisonment, with the final year suspended for five years.
The incident happened at about 11pm on 10 May 2008. Hogan was socialising with friends before one of them left for Australia. Their group entered the Anchor Bar, where O’Keeffe was with a stag party.
After some pushing and shoving involving others, Hogan turned around and was struck without provocation by O’Keeffe with a glass.
Hogan suffered a deep facial wound running from his upper eyelid down his cheek and through his upper lip. He lost a tooth, developed an infection and was left with permanent scarring. The court also recorded significant psychological consequences, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety in crowded places. Hogan later moved to Australia partly to escape repeated questions about the assault.
O’Keeffe argued on appeal that the offence had been rated too seriously and that insufficient allowance had been made for mitigation.
The Court of Appeal rejected both arguments. It described the assault and resulting injuries as extremely serious and agreed with the Circuit Court that the case fell at the highest end of the available scale for the offence.
The sentencing judge had expressly considered O’Keeffe’s later remorse, references suggesting rehabilitation, employment, his daughter’s serious medical condition, his relatively limited previous record and €15,000 lodged as compensation.
The appeal court found that appropriate credit had been given for all of those matters. It found no error of principle and dismissed the appeal.