The Court of Appeal has quashed a sentence imposed on Dermot O’ Callaghan for possession of an imitation firearm and resentenced him to seven and a half years’ imprisonment, with the final year suspended on the same terms as before.
The appeal concerned an eight-year sentence, with the final year suspended, imposed in July 2021. The court found the sentencing judge had erred when explaining why O’ Callaghan’s headline sentence was higher than his co-accused’s: both men were on bail when the offence was committed. The appeal court said bail could not therefore justify distinguishing between them.
The court rejected a separate argument that offending during the operational period of a suspended sentence should not aggravate the sentence. It held that it was an aggravating factor. The suspended sentence had been imposed in 2008 for possession of firearms with intent and attempted burglary.
The imitation firearm charge arose from a robbery at Ulster Bank in Stillorgan on 27 September 2017. The judgment says CCTV showed the co-accused pointing the imitation firearm at a bank staff member while the perpetrators told two other staff members to put money into a bag. They escaped with an estimated €14,000. Police later found two weapons, including a replica pistol, under a bed at O’ Callaghan’s home.
O’ Callaghan pleaded guilty to the firearm charge on a full facts basis after it was added to the indictment on the eighth day of his robbery trial in March 2020. He later sought to withdraw the plea, but that application was refused. The appeal court noted that the sentence under appeal related to the firearm count.
The court set a headline sentence of 11 years, reduced it to nine years to reflect mitigation and progress in custody, then adjusted it to seven and a half years under the totality principle. It said the sentence had to run consecutively to an eight-year sentence because the offence was committed while O’ Callaghan was on bail. The final year was suspended to aid rehabilitation.
The judgment records that O’ Callaghan was addressing addiction difficulties, reducing his methadone dosage, living in the progression unit at Mountjoy Prison and working in the laundry. The court said it imposed the suspended portion on the same terms as the trial court.