The Court of Appeal has quashed a sentence of two and a half years’ imprisonment, suspended in full, imposed on Mathew Kelly for assaulting his former partner in Roundwood, Co Wicklow. It substituted a two-and-a-half-year sentence with the final 18 months suspended, leaving 12 months to be served.
The Director of Public Prosecutions brought the appeal under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993, arguing that the original sentence was unduly lenient. The Circuit Court imposed it on 26 July 2018 for a section 3 assault. Kelly accepted that the sentence was lenient but argued it did not cross the high threshold for appeal intervention, pointing to the requirement that he attend a domestic violence perpetrator programme.
The Court of Appeal heard that the assault took place on 17 November 2017 near a crèche in Roundwood. Kelly’s former partner, the mother of his child, was collecting their two-year-old daughter. The judgment said that while Kelly held the child, he put her down and punched the woman in the mouth. She fell against the crèche window and then to the ground. He repeatedly punched her to the head and body; the victim impact report also referred to kicking.
The woman suffered a deep cut inside her lip, facial swelling and bruising, and bruising to her leg, thigh, arm and neck. She received treatment from her GP and took about two weeks off work. The court also noted her account of losing confidence and feeling confined at home. A Safety Order obtained by her from the District Court in Bray was in force when the assault occurred.
The appeal court recognised aggravating factors, including the assault’s nature and location, that it happened in front of the child and members of the school community, and that the woman had obtained court protection. It also noted mitigation: Kelly went to a Garda station after the incident and made admissions, later entered an early plea, had no previous convictions, and had a positive work record. The court considered his cooperation with the Probation Service and constructive engagement with the MOVE programme after the original sentence.
The court held that the Safety Order moved the case out of the category of an “extremely marginal” case in which no custody would be required. It ruled that the original sentence’s complete suspension was an error, quashed it and resentenced Kelly. The court set a four-year headline sentence, reduced it to two and a half years for mitigation, and said half could have been suspended at first instance. Given that Kelly had initially avoided custody, it suspended all but the final 12 months.