DPP v Coakley

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Birmingham P.
• Judgment Date: 13 March 2023
• Neutral Citation: [2023] IECA 77
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ireland)
• Docket Number: [93/22]

Between

The People at the Suit of the Director of Public Prosecutions

Respondent

and

Dan Coakley

Appellant

[2023] IECA 77

The President

Edwards J.

McCarthy J.

[93/22]

THE COURT OF APPEAL

Crime & sentencing – Road traffic – Dangerous driving causing death – Appeal against severity of sentence

Facts: The appellant had been convicted on multiple road traffic offences including dangerous driving causing death. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment by the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork, and now appealed against the severity of the sentence.

Held by the Court, that the appeal would be dismissed. The Court was not persuaded that a failure to make greater allowance in respect of mitigation amounted to an error on the part of the sentencing Judge. The Court stated that a margin of appreciation had to be afforded to Judges sentencing at first instance, and in this case the sentence was within the range available to the Judge.

Appeal dismissed.

JUDGMENT of the Court (ex tempore) delivered on the 13th day of March 2023 by Birmingham P.

1 This is an appeal against severity of sentence. The sentence under appeal is one of four years and nine months imprisonment, with the final 12 months of the sentence suspended, that was imposed in the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork on 13th May 2022 in respect of the offence of dangerous driving causing death, contrary to s. 53(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended. On that occasion, provision was also made for a disqualification from driving for a period of ten years. A lesser concurrent sentence was imposed in respect of the offence of drunk driving contrary to s. 4(4)(a) and 4(5) of the Road Traffic Act 2010, and an offence of driving a defective vehicle contrary to s. 54(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended, was taken into consideration.

Background

2 The background to the case is to be found in events that occurred at about 11.30amon 8th November 2020, a Sunday morning, in the village of Inchigeelagh in County Cork. On that occasion, a black Audi A4, which was being driven by the appellant, crossed the centre white line and collided in a head-on collision with a vehicle of which there were two occupants, Mr. David Service and Mr. Gary Service. The vehicle was being driven by Gary Service and his father, David Service, was the front seat passenger. Gardaí were called to the accident scene, and one of those coming on the scene, Garda Darragh Moore, detected a strong smell of intoxicating liquor from the appellant. A breath specimen was demanded, and the appellant failed the roadside procedure. He was then brought to Macroom Garda station where the test recorded 99 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millimetres of breath. The legal limit was 22 micrograms, so the result was four and a half times the legal limit. The vehicle driven by the appellant was examined and it was found that there were defects in terms of the steering and the near side of the suspension, and there was a rattling noise from the rear side which would have been evident while the vehicle was in motion. It does not appear that the defective condition of vehicle was a major contributing factor to the accident but it is nonetheless indicative of a failure on the part of the appellant to take seriously his responsibility under the Road Traffic Acts.

3 Initially, the injuries sustained by Mr. Service Sr. were not thought to be life-threatening. However, he had several underlying health conditions, and against that background, the injuries he sustained in the road...