The Court of Appeal has resentenced a man convicted of assault causing harm to his then partner, reducing his prison term and suspending a larger portion of it after finding an error in the original sentencing process.
The appellant had pleaded guilty to the offence, committed on 27 October 2013. Trim Circuit Criminal Court convicted him on 3 February 2015 and, on 18 June that year, imposed a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, with the final six months suspended.
The Court of Appeal said the sentencing judge treated as aggravating an allegation that the appellant had forced his partner into an outside dog kennel and locked her inside for a short time. The appellant denied that part of her account. The appeal court said the judge had accepted the allegation without holding a hearing or resolving the factual dispute through submissions under the approach described in R v Newton.
The court held that this was an error of principle. Because the disputed allegation had not been properly resolved, it should have been excluded when setting the sentence. The appeal court also said the sentencing judge had not identified a starting point for the sentence before applying mitigation, including the appellant’s lack of previous convictions and strong work history.
The judgment described the assault as very serious domestic violence. The account before the court said the couple had argued after drinking and that the assault involved multiple acts, including biting, pushing the victim to the floor and taking her phone. Her injuries were described as largely superficial but extensive, including bruising and a bite mark. The judgment also recorded her statement that she remained fearful and upset.
The appeal court said the seriousness of the offence still required immediate custody, despite the appellant being a first-time offender. It set a new sentence of two years’ imprisonment, with full credit for time already served, and suspended the final 15 months for two years. The suspension was conditional on the appellant entering a €100 bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. The source does not state the time already served or give a separate release order.