Luke Barrett’s armed robbery sentence reduced on appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Luke Barrett’s sentence for two armed robberies was reduced by the Court of Appeal on 4 April 2022. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy found an error in principle in the original sentence, replaced the four-year term for the first robbery with three years and increased the suspended portion of the overall sentence from 18 months to two years. The proceedings were reported on 4 April 2022.

Barrett, of St Michael’s Court, Watergate, Limerick city, had admitted threatening shop workers with a knife at business premises across Co Limerick.

On 6 July 2017, he stole €340 from a family-owned shop in Newcastle West after threatening staff with a knife. On 15 August 2018, while on bail for that robbery, he threatened staff at a service station in Locke Quay, Limerick city, but fled empty-handed when an employee raised the alarm. Minutes later, he used the same weapon to rob a nearby sandwich shop of €80.

In February 2020, Judge Tom O’Donnell sentenced Barrett at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court to consecutive four-year terms for the two robberies, suspending the final 18 months. He also imposed a concurrent two-year term for attempted robbery. Barrett appealed on the grounds that the sentence was too severe.

At the appeal, defence counsel Yvonne Quinn BL said the first robbery was Barrett’s first offence, committed when he was 17, and that his drug habit motivated the offences. She said he was now drug free and engaging with the Probation Service. Sinead Behan BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, argued that the sentence should stand because the second robbery was committed while Barrett was on bail. Mr Justice McCarthy sat with Court President Mr Justice George Birmingham and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy.