The Court of Appeal suspended one year of a 14-year prison sentence imposed on a man who pleaded guilty to six offences, including a robbery that left a 79-year-old woman with life-changing injuries. It otherwise found no basis to interfere with the sentencing judge’s decisions on the sentence length, consecutive terms or totality.
The court heard that the offences included five committed on 22 October 2018 and an earlier theft on 27 September. The robbery took place at Spriggs Road, Gurranabraher, Cork, when the man grabbed the woman’s handbag and pushed her to the ground as she walked towards her home. She suffered multiple rib fractures and a fractured pubic bone, lost her voice and spent two months in Cork University Hospital. A victim impact report described her injuries as life-changing.
The man received a 16-year headline sentence for the robbery, reduced to 13 years after his guilty plea. The sentencing judge ordered that term to run consecutively to a four-year sentence for the September theft. The other sentences were concurrent, and the judge reduced the resulting 17-year term to 14 years to reflect totality and encourage rehabilitation.
On appeal, the court rejected arguments that the robbery sentence was excessive, that greater credit was due for the guilty plea and other mitigating factors, and that the consecutive term was wrong. It said the robbery was at the higher end of the sentencing range, citing the victim’s age and vulnerability, the serious injuries, the location near her home and the man’s relevant previous Circuit Court convictions. The court also found the sentencing judge had given relevant reasons for making the September theft sentence consecutive.
The court accepted that the sentencing judge had addressed totality and had not erred in reducing the overall term to 14 years. But it held that rehabilitation, including possible partial suspension of the sentence, required further consideration. It referred to a probation officer’s assessment that the man’s life had followed a cycle of drugs, crime and prison, and that he managed in prison but struggled after release.
The court ordered one year of the sentence suspended for two years. The suspension is conditional on keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, three years’ Probation Service supervision, following its directions including attending advised courses or counselling, and advising the service of relevant changes in circumstances.