The Court of Appeal suspended the final 12 months of Anthony Elders’ sentence for assault causing harm and criminal damage, subject to payment of €4,000 to the injured party. The court said the original sentence failed to take adequate account of Elders’ age, lack of previous convictions and record during the lengthy delay before sentencing.
Elders appealed the severity of two five-year prison sentences imposed in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on 22 May 2012. A jury had convicted him after a contested trial. The Court of Appeal heard the appeal on 10 November 2014 and delivered its judgment ex tempore through Mr Justice Birmingham.
The court’s account said the incident began in the early hours of 1 January 2007, when Elders asked for a lift from friends sitting in a car near the injured party’s home. After being refused, he became aggressive. The court said he later returned with others, who threw objects at the house and damaged cars in the driveway. Damage was put at about €6,000. Elders threw glass fragments that cut the injured party’s face.
A victim impact report before the sentencing court described a deep facial laceration of 10 to 15 centimetres, facial nerve damage and ongoing cheek twitching. It also recorded effects on the injured party’s sleep, mood, work and marriage. The Court of Appeal identified the racist dimension of the incident, the return with others, the attack on a dwelling and the use of glass as aggravating factors.
The appeal argued that the sentence was excessive and disproportionate, citing Elders’ character and the delay before trial and sentence. The Director of Public Prosecutions opposed the appeal, submitting that the sentencing judge had considered the offence and personal circumstances carefully. The Court of Appeal acknowledged mitigating factors: Elders was 17 and had no previous convictions when the offence occurred; there were no relevant recorded convictions before sentencing; he had a good work record and family support. The case had taken almost six years to come on for sentence.
The court held that a significant custodial sentence was warranted, but that imposing the maximum sentence without reducing it or suspending part of it was an error in principle. It then heard updated information and ordered the final 12 months suspended on the usual terms, provided the €4,000 was paid to the injured party within about two months. The judgment states the condition; it does not establish whether payment was later made.