The Court of Appeal ruled that a 200-hour community service order was significantly unduly lenient for a serious assault on a garda, replacing it with a three-year prison sentence suspended in full for two years.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Mahon on 12 December 2017, followed an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. The appeal concerned a sentence imposed by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 19 December 2016 for assault contrary to section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. The original sentence was 200 hours of community service in lieu of three years’ imprisonment.
The Court of Appeal said gardaí had gone to an address in Kilbarrack, Dublin 5, after a call for help from the respondent’s 10-year-old daughter. The judgment said the respondent was intoxicated and became aggressive. He pushed and punched Garda Sheng, who fell down the stairs and was rendered unconscious. The respondent then threw a mirror, a picture and a bag of clothes down the stairs, landing on the garda. The judgment recorded that Garda Sheng sustained soft tissue injuries, concussion and symptoms of PTSD, and was still off work at the time of the original sentence hearing.
The DPP argued that the sentencing judge had failed to give adequate weight to the seriousness of the assault and its aggravating factors, including the attack on a garda performing his duties and the injuries caused. The Court of Appeal agreed that the offence required a custodial element and was not suitable for a community service order. It said courts should protect gardaí from unjustified violent attacks by imposing relatively severe sentences.
The appeal court quashed the original sentence and imposed three years’ imprisonment. It noted that the respondent had remained at liberty for almost 12 months, completed the community service requirement, and had taken steps towards rehabilitation and maintaining employment. It also considered his guilty plea and remorse, and the likely distress imprisonment would cause his young daughter.
The court suspended the entire three-year term for two years from 12 December 2017, on the respondent entering a €100 bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. It reiterated that a violent assault on a garda performing their duties should, save in exceptional circumstances, result in a custodial sentence.