The Court of Appeal has increased the sentence imposed on Hughie Paul Donoghue for five assaults on a former partner, finding the original sentence unduly lenient. The resentencing gives him an effective two and a half years, to be served after a sentence for aggravated burglary imposed in Mullingar in November 2022.
The judgment, delivered on 14 November 2023, arose from a review sought by the Director of Public Prosecutions under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. The original sentences were imposed at Roscommon Circuit Court on 22 February 2023 after pleas were entered to five offences: three assaults causing harm and two assaults.
The offences occurred between 31 October and 24 November 2021 at the injured party’s home. The court said the most serious assault, on 24 November, left her with fractures to both sides of her jaw and a fracture to the skull base. The court described the incidents as a series of serious domestic violence and said the assaults in the home, and the apparent response to her contacting Gardaí, were aggravating features. The Director had also argued that the original sentences did not sufficiently account for the seriousness of the offences, the injuries, relevant previous convictions and deterrence.
The Circuit Court imposed concurrent sentences, including two years and two months on the fifth count, with the final 12 months suspended. Those sentences were to run consecutively to a seven-year sentence for aggravated burglary, with the final two years suspended. The Court of Appeal said the sentence on the fifth count did not reflect the gravity of the offending and resentenced Donoghue.
For the fifth count, the appeal court set a five-year headline sentence, reduced it to three years and nine months to reflect mitigation including the early plea, and then reduced it by a further 15 months to address totality. The resulting sentence is two and a half years, consecutive to the aggravated burglary sentence. Sentences on the other counts were set at five months each for counts one and four, and 24 months each for counts two and three. All four are concurrent with the sentence on count five.
The judgment also addressed the question of credit for time in custody. The court said it had been told there was never a period when Donoghue was in custody solely in relation to these offences. On that understanding, it said the question of credit did not arise at that stage.