DPP v Crowe

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 27 May 2009
• Date: 27 May 2009
• Docket Number: [C.C.A. No. 213 of
• Court: High Court

[2009] IECCA 57,

Court of Criminal Appeal

[C.C.A. No. 213 of 2007]

The People (Director of Public Prosecutions) v. Crowe

The People (at the suit of the Director of Public Prosecutions)

Prosecutor

and

Leigh Crowe

Accused

Cases mentioned in this report:-

The People (Director of Public Prosecutions) v. Aherne [2004] IECCA 13, (Unreported, Court of Criminal Appeal, 5th July, 2004).

The People (Director of Public Prosecutions) v. Kelly[2004] IECCA 14, [2005] 2 I.R. 321; [2005] 1 I.L.R.M. 19.

The People (Director of Public Prosecutions) v. McAuley[2001] 4 I.R. 160.

The People (Director of Public Prosecutions) v. R. McC.[2007] IESC 47, [2008] 2 I.R. 92; [2008] 1 I.L.R.M. 321.

The People (Attorney General) v. O'Callaghan [1966] I.R. 501; (1966) 102 I.L.T.R. 45.

P.T. v. Director of Public Prosecutions [2007] IESC 39, [2008] 1 I.R. 701.

Criminal Law - Sentencing - Severity - Manslaughter - Diminished responsibility - Guilty plea - Whether sentence of life imprisonment permissible where guilty plea to manslaughter accepted - Criminal Justice Act 1999 (No. 10), s. 29 - Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 (No. 11), s. 6.

Application for leave to appeal

The facts have been summarised in the headnote and are more fully set out in the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeal delivered by Kearns J., infra.

The accused pleaded guilty before the Central Criminal Court (Carney J.) to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, attempted murder and assault causing harm. On the 8th October, 2007, the accused was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment on the manslaughter charge, to fifteen years imprisonment on the attempted murder charge and to five years imprisonment on the assault causing harm charge, all to run concurrently. Leave to appeal against the severity of this sentence was refused.

By notice of appeal dated the 31st October, 2007, the accused applied to the Court of Criminal Appeal for leave to appeal against the severity of sentence on the manslaughter and attempted murder charges. An enlargement of time for leave to appeal was granted on the 15th April, 2008.

The matter came on for hearing before the Court of Criminal Appeal (Kearns, de Valera and McCarthy JJ.) on the 2nd February, 2009, when the application for leave was treated as the hearing of the appeal.

The accused pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility due to mental disorder of one man, to attempted murder of another man and to assault causing harm to a woman, which plea was accepted by the prosecutor. The accused and his accomplice arrived to the house where the victims were attending a party, wearing balaclavas and both were armed with shotguns. The accused's accomplice shot the deceased in the face at point blank range. The accused shot the other man in the upper right arm, causing serious injuries. The woman was struck by the butt end of one of the shotguns. Both gunmen then fled the scene.

Pronouncing sentence, the trial judge rejected any contention that the accused had substantially reduced responsibility because in his view the accused had a history of self-induced alcohol and drug taking and could not rely upon those factors to mitigate his consequent actions. He noted the seriousness of the offence and the accused's previous convictions, and stated that his guilty plea was of minor significance in relation to the aggravating factors. He imposed a sentence of life imprisonment on the manslaughter charge, fifteen years imprisonment on the attempted murder charge and five years imprisonment on the assault causing harm charge, all to run concurrently. The accused appealed against the severity of the sentences imposed in respect of the counts of manslaughter and attempted murder.

Held by the Court of Criminal Appeal (Kearns, de Valera and McCarthy JJ.), in allowing the appeal in respect of the count of manslaughter only, quashing the sentence of life imprisonment and substituting a sentence of twenty years imprisonment, that implicit in the acceptance of a plea to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility due to mental disorder was the recognition that the accused could not and should not be treated in precisely the same manner as a person fully responsible for his own actions. At the very least, the accused was entitled to expect the imposition of some sentence short of life imprisonment when a manslaughter plea was accepted in this way.

Obiter dictum: The facts of the case were such as to place it into the category of the most serious and the worst kind imaginable. A plea to manslaughter simpliciter would certainly have permitted the trial judge to impose the maximum sentence of life imprisonment notwithstanding the plea of guilty.

Cur. adv. vult.

In accordance with the provision of s. 28 of the Court of Justice Act 1924, the judgment of the court was delivered by a single member.

Kearns J. 27th May, 2009

[1] On the 8th October, 2007, at the Central Criminal Court the accused pleaded not guilty to the murder of Owen Cahill on the 2nd April, 2006, at Poulboy, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, but guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, which said plea was accepted by the prosecutor. On the same occasion the accused pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of one Mark Doolan on the same date and location and to assault causing harm to one Sharon Rossiter contrary to s. 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, also at Poulboy, Clonmel, on the same date in April, 2006.

[2] The court had before it medical reports from Doctor Paul O'Connell, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at the Central Mental Hospital and from Doctor Nataraj Gojanur, visiting psychiatrist to Limerick prison. The court also heard character evidence in relation to the accused from Mr. Tom O'Mahony, manager of the local GAA football club and Mr. Edward Dooley, building contractor, who had employed the accused between 2004 and 2006. The court also had before it a victim impact statement from Catherine Cahill, the mother of the deceased Owen Cahill.

[3] Following a plea in mitigation, the trial judge (Carney J.) imposed a sentence of imprisonment for life in respect of the manslaughter count. He further imposed sentences of fifteen years imprisonment in respect of the attempted murder and five years imprisonment in respect of the assault, all sentences to run concurrently and to date from the 3rd April, 2006.

[4] This appeal is one against the severity of the sentence imposed in respect of the counts of manslaughter and attempted murder.

Background

[5] Evidence as to the background circumstances of the offence was given by Detective Sergeant O'Riordan. He outlined that on Sunday, the 2nd April, 2006, a party was taking place at the dwelling house premises of Mr. Cliff...