The Court of Appeal has dismissed Gavin Kavanagh’s appeal against sentences for two robberies, finding no error of principle and no breach of the totality principle.
The appeal concerned a two-year sentence for a robbery at Bar One Racing Bookmakers and a three-year sentence, with the final six months suspended, for a robbery in a Dunnes Stores car park. The second offence was committed while Kavanagh was on bail for the first, so the sentencing judge was required by statute to make its sentence consecutive and to consider bail as an aggravating factor.
Kavanagh had pleaded guilty to both offences on 4 February 2014. The first took place on 27 June 2013, when he stole more than €4,000 from the bookmaker near closing time, using some force and putting an employee in fear. The second took place on 7 August 2013. He stole €70 and personal items from Mary MacDonald, using considerable force: the judgment says he banged her head against the ground three times. She suffered head lacerations requiring five stitches and was out of work for seven months.
The Court of Appeal recorded that the prosecution accepted the offences were probably not premeditated. At the time, Kavanagh was out of work and using alcohol and drugs; the judgment says he needed money for drugs and drug debts. After the second charge, he was released on bail and attended Victory Outreach for about two and a half months. By sentencing, he had not come to gardaí’s attention again and had returned clean urine tests.
The appeal argued that the sentencing judge had wrongly combined aggravating and mitigating factors and failed to apply the totality principle. The Court rejected both arguments. It held that the judge could place each robbery in the midrange of seriousness and then adjust the sentence in light of the offences and Kavanagh’s personal circumstances. It also found no error in placing the offences in that range.
The court said the statutory requirements relating to the second robbery, including the fact it was committed while Kavanagh was on bail, had to be weighed alongside his rehabilitation efforts, which the sentencing judge had considered. It dismissed the appeal. The judgment was delivered ex tempore on 24 November 2014 by Finlay Geoghegan J.