Director of Public Prosecutions v Curtis

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ireland)
• Judge: Ms. Justice Ní Raifeartaigh
• Judgment Date: 23 April 2024
• Neutral Citation: [2024] IECA 101
• Docket Number: Appeal Number: CCACJ0217/2023

Between/

The People at the Suit of the Director of Public Prosecutions

Appellant

and

Cameron Curtis

Respondent

[2024] IECA 101

Birmingham P.

McCarthy J.

Ní Raifeartaigh J.

Appeal Number: CCACJ0217/2023

Bill Number: DUDP0090/2023

THE COURT OF APPEAL CRIMINAL

Sentencing – Assault causing harm – Undue leniency – Appellant seeking review of sentence – Whether sentence was unduly lenient

Facts: The respondent, Mr Curtis, pleaded guilty to a number of individual counts of assault causing harm contrary to s. 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, and a count of false imprisonment contrary to s. 15 of the same act. The sentences imposed were concurrent sentences of two years and six months, with the final 12 months suspended subject to conditions. The sentences were backdated to 19 September 2022 when the respondent was in custody in relation to the offences. The appellant, the Director of Public Prosecutions (the DPP), appealed to the Court of Appeal on the ground that the sentence imposed was unduly lenient within the meaning of s. 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. The DPP submitted that the headline sentence (3 years and 4 months) chosen by the sentencing judge was unduly lenient and that, having regard to the facts and the recent caselaw of the Court, the sentencing court would not have been incorrect in choosing the maximum five-year sentence as a headline sentence in respect of each the s. 3 assaults, with a higher headline sentence in respect of the false imprisonment count. The DPP submitted that the sentencing judge did not place sufficient weight on the view expressed in the probation report that the respondent was at high risk of reoffending. The DPP took no issue with regard to the mitigating factors which were taken into account, but submitted that the sentencing judge discounted the sentence too much in all of the circumstances. The DPP referred to the principle of deterrence and submitted that what was a carceral sentence of 18 months was unduly lenient in all of the circumstances.

Held by the Court that the original sentence was unduly lenient. The Court held that the offences were very serious and it would have considered a headline sentence of five years as a more appropriate starting point. In resentencing the appellant, the Court noted the considerable progress the respondent had made and also noted that he was released in November 2023 having served the sentence imposed upon him at first instance, and that he remained involved in post-release supervision. The Court noted the Garda view that there had been no further incidents involving the injured party. The Court also noted the letter from the respondent which was well written and indicated quite a degree of insight and commitment to reform.

The Court decided to increase the sentence to one of four years (observing that a headline sentence of five years would have been a more appropriate starting point) to mark the seriousness of the offence. The Court decided to give credit for the period already spent by the respondent in custody and to suspend the remaining part of the sentence on conditions. The Court held that the terms and conditions of the suspension were to be the same as those imposed by the sentencing judge. The Court held that the period of suspension was until the expiry of the four-year period deemed to commence from 19 September 2022 (the date to which the sentence had been backdated).

Appeal allowed.

JUDGMENT of the Court delivered on the 23rd day of April 2024 by Ms. Justice Ní Raifeartaigh

1 This is an appeal brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions on the ground that the sentence imposed on the Respondent was unduly lenient within the meaning of s.2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. It involves what is now frequently referred to as “intimate partner violence”.

2 The respondent had pleaded guilty to a number of individual counts of assault causing harm contrary to s.3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, and a count of false imprisonment contrary to s.15 of the same act. The sentences imposed were concurrent sentences of two years and six months, with the final 12 months suspended subject to conditions. The sentences imposed were backdated to the 19th of September 2022 when the respondent was in custody in relation to these offences.

Evidence in the Sentencing Court

3 Evidence was heard by the Circuit Court Judge on the 24th of May 2023. The offences related to four different dates from the 19th of July 2022 to the 16th of August 2022, a period of approximately four weeks.

4 Both of the parties were young adults. The respondent was aged nineteen at the time, and the injured party, his partner, aged twenty.

5 The respondent entered an early plea to one of the s.3 assault counts on the indictment and entered a plea to other counts on the date of the sentence hearing. The other offences on the indictment were taken into consideration (these included a threat to kill, production of a knife, and criminal damage — to an iPhone belonging to the injured party and to a doorframe of a premises the respondent and injured party were in at the time)) on a “full facts” basis.

6 The respondent had no previous convictions.

The first incident, 19th July 2022

7 The first incident (count 1 on the indictment, a s.3 assault) took place at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, on the 19th July 2022 when the respondent and the injured party were staying in one of the hotel rooms. The respondent accused the injured party of cheating on him before threatening her with a glass bottle. He then kicked her in the face and temple ten or eleven times. He struck her with his fist while screaming at her. Gardaí were called by the hotel staff. At the time, the injured party would not proceed with a complaint although she did attend hospital with the accused and was given anti-inflammatory medication.

Events on the 12th-13th August 2022

8 The second incident (count 2 on the indictment) took place on the 12th of August 2022 and related to events that took place at the Binary Hub on Bonham Street, Dublin 8. The premises were registered to the injured party's sister but the injured party and the respondent had been staying there. The respondent on this date took exception to the injured party not providing him with the password to her Snapchat account and he slapped her. The injured party then fell asleep for a while before she woke to the respondent grabbing her by the neck and again demanding her Snapchat password. The respondent then assaulted the injured party for five minutes by kicking both of her legs, punching her on the side of the head and jaw before slapping her again, punching her on the back and spitting on her face. The respondent accused her of cheating on him and punched her to the right side of the face.

9 Counts 5 and 6 on the indictment related to assaults which took place on the following morning, the 13th of August 2022, at the same location, the Binary Hub. The respondent apologised to the injured party for the injuries he had caused the previous day but then became violent again and punched her on the left side of her face and pulled her by her hair around the bathroom. She began to bleed heavily at this stage as a result of the punch. There was then a ‘period of normality’ for a few hours before the respondent again attacked the injured party and kneeled on her chest for five minutes. He told her he would kill her and he dragged the injured party around the room by her hair.

10 He then grabbed the injured party around the neck and brought her into the bathroom, before throwing her on the bathroom floor and proceeding to lock her in the bathroom for a period of 45 minutes. The respondent stated that he would not let the injured party out of the bathroom unless she gave him passwords for her Snapchat account.

11 He proceeded to take a knife from the kitchen and threatened the injured party with it when he released her from the bathroom. After a 30 minute ‘period of normality’, the respondent threw the injured party's phone at her, hitting her in the head, kicked her in the legs and spat at her. This assault lasted for approximately 25 minutes and the injured party confirmed that she was in throbbing pain as a result of the assault.

12 The respondent then put the injured party in a chokehold, saying that she had been unfaithful to him with two other males, before grabbing her by the hair and pulling her to the ground. He crouched over her while he assaulted her further and again spat in her face. At this stage the injured part was asking the respondent to stop hurting her and he stopped and began crying.

13 After 45 minutes, the respondent became violent towards the injured party again and wrapped his arms around her neck and dragged her into the bathroom. He threatened her that he was getting a scissors and the injured party confirmed to Gardaí that she believed that she was going to die at this point. She managed to get out of the bathroom before locking herself in the bedroom and the respondent tried to break down the bedroom door. The injured party managed to go to a communal area to raise the alarm and Gardaí arrived and the injured party was treated for her injuries before returning to her family home. Photographs of the injured parties' injuries were handed up to the sentencing judge and have been seen by this Court.

Events on the 16th August 2022

14 The last date of offending is the 16th of August 2022, again at the Binary Hub (counts 10, 11, 12, 13, 14). The respondent came to the room after he had been messaging the injured party. He went through the injured party's mobile phone before becoming violent and demanding her password to her Snapchat account. At this stage both the respondent and the injured party were in the kitchen and the respondent punched the injured party twice in quick...