The Court of Appeal increased the sentence for a 2015 robbery at Citywest Luas stop, finding that the original four-year headline sentence did not adequately reflect the “egregious violence” of the attack. It resentenced Aidan Keane to seven years, with three and a half years suspended for three years, including 18 months of Probation Service supervision after release.
The appeal was brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993, on the ground that the sentence was unduly lenient. The court, in a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Hedigan on 28 March 2017, said its review concerned only the robbery count. Other matters dealt with at sentencing were not under appeal.
Keane pleaded guilty to robbery and threatening to kill or cause serious harm on 13 November 2015. Two assault-causing-harm counts and a count of producing an intimidating article were taken into consideration. The Circuit Court sentenced him in May 2016 to two and a half years for robbery, backdated to 21 July 2015, with the unserved balance to be suspended if he entered a 20-week treatment programme at Cuan Mhuire. A separate one-year sentence for the threat offence was also backdated.
The robbery occurred on 17 April 2015. The judgment records that Keane and another man attacked a commuter at Citywest Luas stop, kicking and punching him until he fell unconscious, then kicking him in the head before taking his mobile phone. The victim was hospitalised for three days with concussion and reported continuing pain, headaches, sleep difficulties and fear in public places.
The Court of Appeal said the sentencing judge had carefully considered the CCTV, psychiatric report and Probation Service report. But it held that setting the headline sentence at four years was an error in principle, given the severity of the assault and the need for deterrence. The maximum penalty for robbery is life imprisonment, the court noted, leaving a broad sentencing range. It set the appropriate headline sentence at seven years.
The court also considered mitigation, including Keane’s age at the time of the offence, guilty plea, addiction difficulties and efforts in custody to improve and rehabilitate. The planned Cuan Mhuire placement had not become available, and the court said this was not entirely his fault. It ordered seven years from 21 July 2015, suspending three and a half years for three years, with 18 months of post-release Probation Service supervision.