The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the severity of a 10-year prison sentence imposed on Michael Lynch for false imprisonment. The sentence, imposed by the Circuit Court in Cork on 10 May 2017, included suspension of its final two years.
Lynch was convicted after a trial on 13 February 2017. The appeal court heard that he picked up his former girlfriend at Cork train station after she asked him to drive her to her father’s home. Instead, he drove her to a house they had previously shared in Inchigeelagh. She repeatedly asked him to stop and let her out, but he refused.
The court said she was detained from about 2am until the following evening, possibly for somewhat less than 24 hours. The judgment recounted her account of threats involving knives, a machete and boiling water, and said Lynch beat her across the hip with a machete. She escaped through a back window when the landlord arrived at the property to discuss rent.
The appeal argued that the sentencing judge had not given proper consideration to a psychiatric report. The report described Lynch as presenting a low risk of harm to others only if he had stable housing, psychological support, structure in his day and avoided alcohol. The appeal court noted that the assessment had relied on incorrect information about his previous offending: he had two earlier convictions for assault causing harm, both involving former girlfriends. One involved an assault with boiling water mixed with sugar.
The Court of Appeal rejected the criticism of the sentencing judge, finding that he had paid considerable attention to the report. It also said the report was undermined by the false information provided and by the absence of probing into the details of a prior violent conviction.
The court described the offence as very serious, citing Lynch’s relevant record of violence and the victim’s particular vulnerabilities, which it said were known to him. It concluded that the sentence did not fall outside the available range and that there was no error in principle. The appeal was dismissed.