The Court of Appeal has upheld an eight-year sentence imposed on John Cully for two serious offences arising from dangerous driving incidents less than eight months apart.
Cully received two consecutive four-year sentences under section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. The final two years of the combined term were suspended, leaving six years of actual imprisonment.
The first incident happened on October 31, 2011 at Blackditch Road, Ballyfermot. The court recorded that Cully drove a large jeep directly at a Garda car, causing a violent collision. He then drove away before losing control and crashing into a gate pillar. Two Gardaí were injured, one of whom remained off work more than two years later.
The second incident occurred on June 17, 2012 while Cully was on bail for the first offence. This time he was driving a stolen jeep at very high speed while being pursued by Gardaí. Other road users had to take evasive action before the jeep overturned and crashed.
Cully pleaded guilty to both principal offences and to other less serious associated charges. He argued that the total sentence was excessive, pointing to his guilty pleas, remorse, health problems and difficult personal circumstances.
The Court of Appeal accepted that the pleas were mitigating, although they were entered relatively late and both cases involved circumstances in which Cully had effectively been caught in the act.
The court placed greater weight on the aggravating factors. These included the extreme danger to other road users, the deliberate collision with the Garda vehicle, attempts to evade arrest, the fact that the second offence was committed while on bail, and Cully’s 41 previous convictions.
It found no error in making the sentences consecutive and no breach of the totality principle, which requires the combined punishment to remain proportionate when several sentences are added together.
The appeal was dismissed and the original sentencing structure remained in place.