The Court of Appeal has dismissed Patrick Irwin’s challenge to a three-year prison sentence for assault causing harm to Detective Sergeant Brian Lee in Collooney, Co Sligo, in 2010.
Irwin pleaded guilty at Sligo Circuit Criminal Court on 3 June 2013 to assault causing harm, contrary to section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. He was sentenced three days later to three years in prison, consecutive to a seven-year sentence he was already serving for a drugs offence.
The appeal court heard that Lee was driving towards Collooney on 29 May 2010 when he noticed a car parked at the roadside. The car drove off and turned into a service station. Lee followed, recognised Irwin as the driver and saw a young child in the vehicle. After Lee approached and searched Irwin, a struggle followed. The judgment said the assault lasted about 10 minutes and left Lee with serious physical injuries, including a fractured jaw and dental damage. It also said he later developed severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
Irwin argued that the sentencing judge gave insufficient credit for his guilty plea and time spent in custody before sentencing, failed to apply the totality principle properly, set the starting point too high, and did not give enough weight to rehabilitation or his lack of previous assault convictions.
The Court of Appeal said the sentencing judge had treated the assault as being at the upper end of the gravity scale for a section 3 offence, which carries a maximum five-year sentence. The judge had considered mitigating factors, including the guilty plea, an apology, prison education and time already served. The appeal court said the reduction from a sentence close to the maximum was about 18 months to two years, or roughly 40 per cent.
It held that the net three-year sentence was within the sentencing judge’s discretion and dismissed the appeal. The court did not alter the sentence.