The Court of Appeal has ruled that a Waterford man’s sentences for theft and possession of stolen property should run concurrently, reducing the effective custodial term to 12 months.
Robert Widger appealed the severity of sentences imposed by Waterford Circuit Court on 5 July 2017: 12 months’ imprisonment for theft and a consecutive two-year sentence, with one year suspended, for possessing stolen property under section 18 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
The appeal court, in an ex tempore judgment delivered on 31 July 2017, was not persuaded that the sentencing judge had erred in deciding that custody was required. It found that the offences were serious and deliberate. However, it said an aggregate three-year sentence, with one year suspended, was “a very substantial sentence for a first time offender” and that a sentence greater than 12 months’ effective custody was inappropriate.
The offences followed the theft of six eight-metre lighting poles, each valued at €320, from a construction compound at University Hospital Waterford on 21 September 2014. CCTV showed a black Land Cruiser registered to Widger. Evidence before the court was that he had accessed the hospital using his wife’s swipe card; the judgment said she was an employee there.
A search of Widger’s premises recovered the poles and other stolen property. The judgment listed a mini digger valued at €25,000, a strimmer, 11 aluminium windows and four doors valued at €8,308, an Ifor Williams horse box valued at €3,500, and a double-axle Ifor Williams trailer valued at €2,722.50. The items had been misappropriated between 2008 and 2013.
Widger’s appeal counsel argued that the sentencing judge should have followed, or given clear reasons for departing from, a positive probation report recommending a community-based sanction. Counsel also argued for a suspended sentence or community service. The Director of Public Prosecutions submitted that custody was warranted and that the sentences were appropriate.
The appeal court directed that the sentences run concurrently, with both dating from 5 July 2017, when the Circuit Court sentences began. The sentences remained 12 months for theft and two years, with one year suspended, for the section 18 offence. The court did not set aside the custodial sentence.