Patrick McMorrow loses appeal over knife assault sentence

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

Patrick McMorrow lost his appeal against the severity of his sentence at the Court of Appeal on 19 July 2019. The judgment was delivered by Birmingham P.

Sligo Circuit Criminal Court had sentenced McMorrow on 25 June 2018 to 10 years’ imprisonment, with the final two years suspended for five years, for a section 4 offence under the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act.

The conviction followed an incident at the Crozon Inn in Sligo on 23 October 2016. The judgment said McMorrow followed Patrice McMorrow and Michael Harte to the entrance as they were leaving and stabbed Harte five times and Patrice McMorrow once.

The appeal court said the sentencing judge did not appear to have been correct to treat McMorrow’s failure to answer Garda interview questions and the Probation Service’s risk assessment as aggravating factors. It nevertheless dismissed the appeal, finding no error of principle and holding that the sentence was within the trial judge’s discretion, although it could be regarded as severe.