The Court of Appeal has reduced the custodial effect of Michael Cummins’ sentence for falsely imprisoning and assaulting a man during an ordeal at his Dundalk home.
Cummins had received eight years' imprisonment at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court, with the final two years suspended. The appeal court left the eight-year headline sentence intact but increased the suspended portion to four years.
The offence happened in the early hours of July 5, 2015. Joshua Morris was walking on Bachelors Walk in Dundalk when he was tripped from behind and attacked by two men, including Cummins.
The men punched him, demanded his property and forced him back to his home after claiming to be Dublin gangsters and threatening to stab him. Inside, they searched his bedroom and found an ATM card. When Morris said there was no money in his account, he was assaulted again.
One of the men produced a kitchen knife and threatened to slit Morris’ throat. Another went out with the bank card while Morris remained confined. When no money was found in the account, he was punched again. Morris eventually freed his hands, escaped onto the street and sought help from neighbours.
CCTV assisted Gardaí in identifying Cummins. A watch matching one stolen from Morris was later found during a search of Cummins’ home. After initially remaining silent, Cummins acknowledged his guilt when shown CCTV and indicated that he wanted to plead guilty.
The Circuit Court regarded the offence as extremely serious but also considered Cummins’ age, remorse, guilty plea, lack of previous convictions and troubled family background.
The Court of Appeal agreed that an eight-year headline sentence was justified. However, it found an error in suspending only two years. Cummins had been 18, had no previous convictions and had shown progress in prison.
He was resentenced to eight years with the final four years suspended, subject to a €100 bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years after release.