The Court of Appeal varied the sentence of C.L., who was 16 when he received a suspended three-year detention sentence for robbery and burglary committed in Cork on 21 September 2014. The appeal court activated one year of that sentence and suspended the unexpired balance from 18 March 2016 for two years, subject to a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour and compliance with Probation Service directions.
C.L. had pleaded guilty to both offences. The robbery involved an attack on a 52-year-old man, who was kicked and punched by C.L. and two co-accused while they took his mobile phone and €40. The judgment said the man had a pacemaker following a heart attack and was concerned he might suffer another. His injuries were described as minor; he did not make a victim impact statement. Before the robbery, the group had taken a cash register from a premises in Cork City and later abandoned it.
At the original sentencing on 27 April 2015, the judge described the robbery as the more serious offence and identified the victim’s age and heart condition as aggravating factors. Mitigating factors included C.L.’s early guilty plea, remorse, cooperation with gardaí and lack of previous convictions. The judge initially considered a detention and supervision order, but imposed three years’ detention, suspended on conditions including probation supervision, a night curfew and a restriction on entering Cork City Centre at specified hours. The judgment said the judge had been told only one place was available at Oberstown and considered it inequitable to distinguish between the two accused before him.
At a sentence hearing on 18 June 2015, the court received unchallenged evidence of repeated breaches. Garda Marja Furphy described several occasions in May when C.L. was stopped or arrested in Cork City Centre, including alleged curfew and area-restriction breaches. The Court of Appeal noted the prosecution’s submission that four breaches could not be treated as minor. The appellant’s counsel had argued that the sentencing judge should have considered a proportionate reactivation and evidence concerning C.L.’s health and alcohol difficulties; a written argument that the breaches were minor was not pursued orally.
The appeal court held that the sentencing judge had erred by failing to address whether activating the full three-year term was necessary. It then held a new sentence hearing and received a psychologist’s report and a report from the Assistant Governor of Wheatfield Detention Centre. Those reports raised serious concerns about C.L.’s psychological health and the effects of continued detention, and referred to prison authorities considering temporary release.
The court varied the order to activate one year, with the balance suspended from 18 March 2016 for two years on the stated bond and probation conditions. The order also gave liberty to apply.