The Court of Appeal found that a seven-year sentence for an assault causing serious harm was unduly severe and resentenced Mark O’Sullivan to three and a half years’ imprisonment, with the final 15 months suspended. It said it would hear counsel on any additional conditions for the bond before finalising those terms.
O’Sullivan had been sentenced in the Circuit Court sitting in Bray on 26 April 2018. The sentence was seven years, with the final two and a half years suspended. The Court of Appeal said the assault was a mid-range offence, involving a single punch to the back of David Kirwan’s head when he was walking home. Kirwan suffered a fractured skull, intracranial bleeding and significant brain damage, according to the judgment. He was in a medically induced coma from 15 to 26 January 2017. His victim impact statement reported regular seizures, loss of hearing in his left ear, anxiety and depression, and that he would never be able to work again.
The appeal court assessed the harm as very grave and O’Sullivan’s moral culpability as significant, though not at the highest level. It said a suitable pre-mitigation starting sentence under the guidance then applicable would have been about five years and six months to five years and nine months. The court also discussed revising sentencing guidance for serious assaults, but said it would assess this appeal under the guidance applicable when the original sentence was imposed.
In reducing the starting sentence, the court cited O’Sullivan’s lack of previous convictions, stable family circumstances, work record and community service. It also credited his actions after the assault: calling an ambulance, staying with Kirwan, placing him in the recovery position and making admissions to Gardaí. The judgment records that a probation report assessed him as at low risk of reoffending.
The court set a headline sentence of five and a half years, then reduced it to three and a half years to reflect mitigation. It suspended the final 15 months to support rehabilitation and structured reintegration, subject to O’Sullivan entering a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. The court said it would hear counsel on additional conditions, with particular reference to a psychologist’s report. The judgment does not set out those further conditions.