State appeals sentences over fatal car theft

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

The State appealed the sentences imposed on Adam Murphy and Keith McCormick Smith after a car theft in which Ian McDonnell was fatally injured. The Court of Appeal reserved judgment on 17 October 2024.

Murphy pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Both men also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to take a vehicle, three counts of stealing vehicles, one count of attempting to steal property from a vehicle and one count of stealing a push bike. Those offences took place at locations across Dublin on 23 January 2022. McCormick Smith also pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen car key at his address on 8 February 2022.

McDonnell had left his car running outside his Dublin business. Murphy drove away with him on the bonnet; McDonnell was thrown onto the road and died on 28 January 2022. Murphy later told gardaí that, if he had seen McDonnell on the bonnet, he would have stopped.

On 12 February 2024, Judge Dara Hayes sentenced Murphy to nine and a half years for manslaughter, followed by two and a half years for the other offences, fully suspended on strict conditions to encourage rehabilitation. Murphy was disqualified from driving for 12 years from that date.

McCormick Smith, who was not charged with manslaughter, received three years and two months, with the final 12 months suspended on strict conditions. He was disqualified from driving for seven years. The sentencing proceedings were reported on 12 February 2024.

At the appeal, the Director of Public Prosecutions challenged the sentences as unduly lenient. Murphy’s counsel argued that the appeal ignored the totality principle; McCormick Smith’s counsel said her client appreciated the gravity of the offending and was prepared to see his sentence increased.