The Court of Appeal reduced Thomas Kinsella’s manslaughter sentence from 14 years’ imprisonment, with five years suspended, to 11 years, with the final two years suspended. The sentence remains dated from the date set by the Central Criminal Court.
The appeal concerned sentence only. Kinsella withdrew his appeal against his manslaughter conviction. The Court of Appeal held that the original 14-year starting sentence was excessive to the extent that it amounted to an error in principle, and resentenced him.
Kinsella had been tried in the Central Criminal Court on a murder charge arising from a fatal stabbing in the Cushlawn area of Tallaght on the night of 26–27 August 2011. The jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. He accepted causing the fatal injury, but argued at trial that he acted in self-defence. The appeal judgment interpreted the jury’s verdict as meaning that he believed he was acting in self-defence and used no more force than he thought necessary, although the force was objectively excessive.
The Court of Appeal said that the nine years to be served was in line with sentences in comparable cases. It noted, however, that Kinsella had not offered a plea to manslaughter and had relevant previous convictions for violent offences, unlike the defendants in several of the cases considered. The court said a somewhat higher sentence might have been imposed on those grounds.
In reducing the sentence, the court accepted the argument that the 14-year starting point was too high and considered the risk that a lengthy suspended term could be activated. The judgment also noted that Kinsella had made progress in custody, including attending AA meetings and working with a drugs counsellor. The court said he reported being free of drugs and alcohol and no longer taking methadone.
The Court of Appeal varied the Central Criminal Court sentence to 11 years’ imprisonment, with the final two years suspended. It said the suspended portion was intended to discourage reoffending while avoiding a sentence that, if activated, would be seriously out of line with other manslaughter sentences.