The Court of Appeal reduced the sentences imposed on Adam Brady and Ryan Tate for a violent attack in Clonmel, but said the offences remained serious and the scope for intervention was limited.
The appeal concerned sentences imposed at Clonmel Circuit Criminal Court on 26 May 2017. Both men had received 12 years for false imprisonment and robbery, with the final three years suspended. They also received concurrent 10-year sentences for arson and seizure of a motor vehicle, again with the final three years suspended.
The Court of Appeal substituted 10-year sentences for false imprisonment and robbery, with three years suspended, and concurrent eight-year sentences for arson and seizure of a motor vehicle, also with three years suspended. The court said the offending was a joint enterprise and that identifying which man had carried a knife was not of major significance.
The judgment described how the injured party, who had been sleeping in his locked car in a town-centre car park, was forced from the vehicle, assaulted and put in its boot. The car was driven to a rural area near Bansha, with a crash outside Cahir during the journey. The man was assaulted again, left in a rural location and later found help. He suffered facial soft-tissue injuries and a dislocated shoulder that required surgery and extensive physiotherapy. The car was later burnt out.
The court considered the men’s guilty pleas, admissions and personal circumstances, alongside their previous convictions. It noted that Tate had been on bail when the offences were committed. Brady committed the offences while subject to a suspended sentence and had relevant previous convictions, including attempted robbery and possession of knives.
The court upheld the decision to reactivate Brady’s earlier four-year sentence, of which the final two years had been suspended, and to make the new sentence consecutive to it. It described both the activation and consecutive term as appropriate. The judgment also said both men should enter bonds in relation to the new sentences.