Marius Strelciunas has three years suspended and driving ban cut

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

Marius Strelciunas had three years of a five-year prison sentence suspended by the Court of Appeal, which reduced his 20-year driving disqualification to five years. Both penalties were backdated to 29 January 2014.

He pleaded guilty at Galway Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm and drink driving.

Judge Sean O Donnabhain jailed him for five years in January 2014. The proceedings were reported on 18 November 2014.

The offences occurred on 23 December 2012. While Strelciunas was driving towards Barna, Co Galway, his car mounted the path and struck a 22-year-old college student. The victim suffered catastrophic injuries, requiring one leg to be amputated above the knee and the other below it. The report said Strelciunas was approximately four-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit.

On 17 November 2014, his counsel, John Hogan, argued that the sentencing judge had given insufficient weight to mitigation, including remorse and a very early guilty plea. He said Strelciunas had made immediate admissions, expressed remorse and had only one minor previous conviction for theft.

Mary Finlay-Geoghegan, presiding at the Court of Appeal, said the five-year sentence without remission and the 20-year disqualification were disproportionate. She also said the sentencing judge had erred in appearing to discount part of the probation report without identifying the portion, explaining why he considered it naive or giving the probation officer an opportunity to explain it.

The court considered that the offence's gravity and catastrophic consequences warranted five years before mitigation. It took account of Strelciunas's remorse, work record and assessment as being at low risk of reoffending in arriving at five years with three years suspended.