The Court of Appeal has quashed sentences imposed on Dylan Fogarty in the Dublin Circuit Court and resentenced him after finding that the assault offences lay at or near the top of the scale. It set headline sentences of four years and six months for the assaults, suspending the final 18 months of those sentences for two years.
The Director of Public Prosecutions brought the appeal under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993, arguing that the sentences were unduly lenient. The charges on two indictments had been dealt with together on 16 November 2020, with concurrent sentences resulting in an effective term of three years. The Court of Appeal judgment, delivered on 12 November 2021, said the DPP’s complaint that no headline sentence had been identified did not cause difficulty in this case.
One indictment concerned an assault on Ciaran Cussen on Dame Street in the early hours of 15 October 2017. The judgment said Fogarty pleaded guilty to that assault. Cussen suffered a fractured nose and bites to his neck and arm, required surgery under general anaesthetic and was left with permanent scarring. The court cited the unprovoked attack, the extent of the injuries and the impact on Cussen among the aggravating circumstances.
The second indictment included charges arising from a controlling and abusive relationship with Danielle Powell, the judgment said. Fogarty pleaded guilty to assault, criminal damage and harassment charges on that indictment, with evidence given on a full-facts basis. The court described violence against Powell, damage to a wall in her home, distressing calls, and efforts to intimidate her as a witness in another case. It also noted that she was pregnant during one assault. The judgment said the abuse had a serious effect on her mental and physical wellbeing and that she lived in fear.
The court recognised mitigating factors, including early guilty pleas, remorse, a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and engagement with programmes addressing anger management and addiction. It also considered rehabilitation efforts made in custody, including completion of a six-week anger-management course and a report describing strong efforts to address addiction.
The court said it would not interfere with the sentences for the remaining offences. It suspended the final 18 months of the new assault sentences for two years, citing rehabilitation, the fact that this was Fogarty’s first custodial sentence, and the aim of supporting his return to the community. The judgment concluded that the remaining sentence terms would be settled after hearing counsel; it does not specify those terms.