The High Court has ruled that a man whose fitness to plead was in doubt could not face a higher sentencing ceiling simply because his mental capacity prevented him from initially having his sexual assault case dealt with in the District Court.
B.G., then aged 49, was charged with sexually assaulting a woman. Psychiatric evidence raised doubts about his mental capacity. The Director of Public Prosecutions had consented to summary disposal of the indictable charge, but only if B.G. pleaded guilty.
That created a procedural problem. Before accepting such a plea, the District Court had to be satisfied that B.G. understood the charge. Yet legislation required the separate question of whether he was fit to plead to be determined by the Circuit Court.
District Judge Catherine Murphy therefore sent him forward to the Dublin Circuit Court for that issue to be decided. Mr Justice Hogan had previously upheld her interpretation of the legislation.
The practical consequence was significant. An accused whose mental capacity was not questioned could plead guilty in the District Court and face its lower sentencing limit. B.G., by contrast, could be sent to the Circuit Court solely because his fitness had first to be determined there, potentially exposing him to a substantially greater sentencing range if later found fit and willing to plead guilty.
Mr Justice Hogan found that distinction breached the constitutional guarantee of equality. He described it as an unintended gap in the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 for which there was no objective justification.
Rather than invalidate parts of the Act, which could undermine protections for mentally ill accused people, the judge adopted a narrower remedy.
He declared that if B.G. was found fit to plead and then pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court, it would breach Article 40.1 of the Constitution for the sentencing judge to apply a maximum greater than the equivalent District Court maximum that would have applied had his fitness already been established.
The ruling did not determine B.G.’s fitness to plead, guilt or eventual sentence.