The Court of Appeal reduced Shane Millea’s sentence for manslaughter from 10 years’ imprisonment, with the final two years suspended, to eight years, with the final three years suspended. The sentence runs from 2 December 2010, when he entered custody.
The court allowed Mr Millea’s appeal against the severity of his sentence on 1 December 2014 and imposed the replacement sentence that day. Its written judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan on 6 May 2016, explains the reasons for both decisions.
Mr Millea had originally been charged with murder. The Director of Public Prosecutions accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter in March 2012. The offence arose from an incident at the home of Paul Harris, Mr Millea’s cousin and friend, on 2 December 2010. Both men had been drinking. Mr Millea told gardaí that Mr Harris attacked him with an axe and that he used a knife in self-defence. He accepted on appeal that the force he used was excessive.
The sentencing judge imposed 10 years, suspending the final two years. He referred to the grave nature of the offence, its impact on Mr Harris’s family, the blows Mr Millea received from the axe handle and the number of blows he delivered in response. The judge identified the guilty plea as the only factor in Mr Millea’s favour.
On appeal, Mr Millea’s counsel argued that the judge had failed to give proper weight to the self-defence circumstances, Mr Millea’s actions after the stabbing, his remorse and his cooperation with gardaí. The DPP argued that the sentence was proportionate given the violence involved and the injuries inflicted.
The Court of Appeal said Mr Millea’s decision to remain at the scene, call emergency services and perform CPR, guided by fire brigade staff over the phone, was a significant mitigating factor. It also found his remorse genuine and deserving of separate consideration from his guilty plea. The court said the absence of any indication that these matters had been considered amounted to an error in principle.
The court also concluded that the offence belonged in the middle range of manslaughter cases, rather than the upper end of that range, taking account of the circumstances in which the knife was used and the element of self-defence. It set aside the original sentence and substituted eight years, suspending the final three years to reflect those mitigating factors and Mr Millea’s efforts in prison to address his drug addiction.