DPP v Heeney

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Keane C.J.
• Judgment Date: 05 April 2001
• Neutral Citation: [2001] IESC 39
• Docket Number: [S.C. No. 132 of 2000]
• Court: Supreme Court
• Date: 05 April 2001

DPP v. HEENEY

BETWEEN:

THE PEOPLE AT THE SUIT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

Respondent

.v.

FRANK HEENEY

Appellant

[2001] IESC 39

Keane C.J.

Denham J.

Murphy J.

Murray J.

Hardiman J.

132/2000

THE SUPREME COURT

Synopsis:

Criminal Law

Criminal; appeal; double jeopardy; plea bargaining; appellant pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Circuit Criminal Court on charges of unlawful carnal knowledge and sexual assault; Court of Criminal Appeal was satisfied that trial judge was unduly lenient and substituted in each case a greater sentence; whether Court of Criminal Appeal should have had regard to the fact that discussions had taken place in chambers prior to the trial between the trial judge and counsel for the prosecution and defence following which the appellant changed his plea to guilty; whether Court of Criminal Appeal should have had regard to the concept of double jeopardy and for that reason imposed a lesser sentence than that deemed appropriate at first instance.

Held: Appeal allowed; Court of Criminal Appeal obliged to have regard to chain of circumstances in which respondent participated which led to the appellant's plea of guilty and sentence; no question of appellant being tried again in respect of a charge of which already acquitted; Order of Court of Criminal Appeal discharged and substituted with Order affirming Circuit Court sentences.

DPP v. Heeney - Supreme Court: Keane C.J., Denham J., Murphy J., Murray J., Hardiman J. - 05/04/2001 - [2001] 1 IR 736

The case was an appeal to the Supreme Court in relation to the procedure by which the appellant had been sentenced and in particular in relation to a meeting which had taken place in chambers between the trial judge and counsel. Keane CJ delivering judgment was satisfied that the Court of Criminal Appeal was not correct in declining to regard to the discussions which had taken place in chambers at the original trial. The requirements of justice would dictate that the original sentences as imposed should stand and the subsequent order of the Court of Criminal Appeal would be discharged.

Citations:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1993 S2

CONSTITUTION ART 34.1

LESLEY ATKINSON 1978 1 CAR 200

1 JUDGMENT delivered the 5th day of April 2001 by Keane C.J.

2 This appeal comes before the court by way of an appeal from a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal, that court having certified that its decision involved points of law of exceptional public importance.

3 The circumstances of the case are as follows. The appellant (hereafter "the defendant") pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court (Judge Kieran O'Connor) to three charges of unlawful carnal knowledge, and of the attempted unlawful carnal knowledge, of a female under the age of 15 years and fourteen charges of sexual assault. The complainants were six young girls who at the time of the offences were aged 12 or 13 and the defendant was in his early forties. The offences took place, principally but not exclusively, in the house of the defendant, who is a single man, in a Dublin suburb. It is not in dispute that the defendant effectively introduced these young girls to forms of sexual activity, in some cases amounting to complete sexual intercourse. He also brought some of the complainants to a Dublin hotel to engage in what was effectively a form of prostitution with another man.

4 The learned Circuit Court judge, in addition to hearing evidence as to the circumstances of the offences and having before him six victim impact reports, also heard evidence from two of the complainants. He also heard a plea in mitigation from Mr. Birmingham S.C. on behalf of the defendant. He then sentenced the defendant to sentences of six years on each of the charges of unlawful carnal knowledge, also to run concurrently, and three years' imprisonment in respect of the each of the fourteen counts of sexual assault, also to run concurrently.

5 The respondent (hereafter "the DPP") then applied pursuant to s. 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993(hereafter "the 1993 Act") to the Court of Criminal Appeal for a review of each of the sentences, on the ground that they were unduly lenient. That court was informed that, prior to the imposition by the learned Circuit Court trial judge of the sentences in question, the learned trial judge had a meeting with counsel in his chambers. The court was satisfied that the sentences in respect of the offences of unlawful carnal knowledge and attempted unlawful carnal knowledge were unduly lenient and substituted in each case a sentence of 10 years, also to run concurrently.

6 Giving the judgment of the Court extempore, McGuinness J. Said

"In this case apparently there was a meeting held between counsel and the learned trial judge in advance of the sentencing herein and counsel, no doubt properly, have not informed us of the content of that meeting, other than to say that there was no surprise after it. This court would again stress as the English court of appeal stressed in the case opened to us of Attorney General's reference No. 40 of 1996 (Mark Lesley Robinson) the extreme undesirability of this type of meeting. I understand that it no longer takes place and I think that that is the proper situation. This court feels that it gives rise to extreme difficulties in situations both where the learned trial judge subsequent to the meeting receives further evidence in open court which would alter his attitude or her attitude and again gives difficulty as in this case when the matter...