The Court of Appeal has upheld Stephen Daly’s nine-year sentence, with the final year suspended, for falsely imprisoning an au pair during a burglary at a home in Drogheda.
The offence happened on April 29, 2019. Daly and a younger man broke into the house while the family’s au pair, then in her late 20s, was inside.
The two men encountered her on the landing and brought her into a spare room. They took €800, $100 and her Garda National Immigration Bureau card. Her phone, watch and jewellery were initially taken but the younger man returned those items after she said they had sentimental value.
The woman was then confined in a hot press, with furniture placed against the door. While the men searched and ransacked the house, she managed to escape, but Daly put her back inside and tied her hands and knees with straps from her backpack.
The judgment records that Daly called her “sweetie”, told her he liked her and wanted to marry her, and later became angry and insulted her. The incident lasted about an hour. She escaped after the men left and raised the alarm.
Daly, then 28, had 69 previous convictions, including six for burglary. The sentencing judge fixed a 12-year headline sentence for false imprisonment and reduced it to nine years for mitigation, suspending the final year to encourage rehabilitation. A concurrent seven-year sentence was imposed for burglary.
On appeal, Daly argued that the headline term was too high and that more weight should have been given to his guilty plea, difficult upbringing, addiction, mental-health difficulties and remorse.
The Court of Appeal rejected those arguments. It said the absence of a weapon was not mitigation, but simply the absence of another aggravating factor. The judges found no error in either the headline sentence or the reduction for mitigation.
The court said it had considered intervening to increase the sentence, but ultimately confined itself to dismissing Daly’s appeal.