The Court of Appeal reduced Derek Floyd’s sentence for VAT offences from six years, with the final year suspended, to five years, with the final year suspended. It also suspended the final eight months of a separate three-year sentence for handling stolen property, which remains consecutive to the VAT sentence.
The court gave judgment on 16 December 2014 on appeals against the severity of both sentences. The VAT sentence followed convictions on 15 counts of making incorrect VAT returns and 12 counts of claiming VAT refunds to which Floyd was not entitled.
The Court of Appeal rejected the argument that the sentencing judge had wrongly sentenced Floyd for offences beyond those convictions. It held that the judge was entitled to consider the surrounding circumstances and the wider context of the offending.
However, the appeal court found an error in the VAT sentence. The sentencing judge had identified five years as the appropriate total sentence, but imposed six years with one year suspended. The appeal court said that if the suspended portion were later activated, Floyd could serve longer than the sentence the judge had considered appropriate. It substituted five years’ imprisonment, with one year suspended.
The second sentence was imposed in October 2013 for handling stolen property. The appeal judgment said the offence concerned silage wrap diverted from an order placed with a company in Gorey, County Wexford. The consignment was sent to an address in County Meath and then transferred to Tulla, County Clare. It was valued at more than €45,735, of which €2,500 was recovered.
The three-year sentence was required by statute to run consecutively to the sentence Floyd was already serving. The Court of Appeal considered that the sentencing judge appeared to have focused on whether the handling sentence should be imposed or suspended in full. It said the judge could instead have considered suspending part of it to give effect to the totality principle, taking account of the existing sentence and mitigating factors.
The Court of Appeal left the handling sentence at three years but suspended its final eight months. Its order therefore varied both sentences, while retaining the consecutive structure of the handling sentence.