The Court of Appeal has upheld a 33-month prison sentence imposed on Graham Campion for a serious assault on a fellow resident at the Glen Hostel on Gardiner Street in Dublin city centre.
Campion had pleaded guilty to assault causing harm after Christopher Romnan was found badly injured in their shared hostel room on 16 April 2021. The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court imposed a 33-month sentence in February 2025, backdated to 20 November 2024 to reflect time already spent in custody.
The sentencing court heard that hostel staff saw Campion leaving the room around midday and that CCTV showed him departing the hostel with blood visible on his clothing and hands. Romnan was later found with extensive head and facial injuries. Medical evidence described the injuries as consistent with a significant blunt assault, and Romnan had no recollection of the attack.
Campion told gardaí after his arrest that Romnan had sexually assaulted him and that he acted in self-defence. However, no separate sexual assault complaint was made and no supporting evidence for that account was presented at the sentencing hearing.
On appeal, Campion argued that the four-year headline sentence was too severe and that the sentence was disproportionate to the proven facts.
The Court of Appeal rejected those arguments. Mr Justice Edwards, delivering the court’s ex tempore judgment, said the case involved both significant culpability and significant harm. The four-year starting point was comfortably within the sentencing judge’s discretion.
The court also explained that where a defendant asks a sentencing court to accept a disputed fact which would reduce culpability, such as self-defence, there must be at least some evidence supporting it. A bare assertion made during Garda interview was not enough.
The appeal was dismissed, leaving the 33-month sentence in place.