Michael Lynch jailed for Dublin surgery burglary

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

Michael Lynch was sentenced to three years without suspension by the Court of Appeal on 21 January 2019 for burglary. A count of false imprisonment on the indictment was taken into consideration.

The burglary occurred on 26 February 2017 at a domestic dwelling in Newbridge Avenue, Dublin 4, whose basement was used as a medical surgery.

On 6 October 2017, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court had sentenced Lynch to three years, with 18 months suspended, backdated to 27 February 2017.

The Director of Public Prosecutions applied to review the sentence as unduly lenient. Lynch accepted that it was lenient but argued that it did not justify intervention.

The Court of Appeal quashed the earlier sentence, finding it unduly lenient given the seriousness of the offence and Lynch’s prior record, including burglary convictions. In a judgment delivered by Birmingham P., the court ordered credit for time served under the Circuit Court order up to Lynch’s release and for any custody since the Court of Appeal issued a bench warrant.