O'Neill v DPP

JurisdictionIreland
JudgeMr. Justice Mahon
Judgment Date22 February 2016
Neutral Citation[2016] IECA 58
Docket NumberAppeal No.: 249/2014
CourtCourt of Appeal (Ireland)
Date22 February 2016

[2016] IECA 58

THE COURT OF APPEAL

Mahon J.

Appeal No.: 249/2014

Birmingham J.

Mahon J.

Butler J.

Between
The People at the Suit of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Respondent
- and -
Jonathan O'Neill
Appellant

Crime & sentencing – Theft – Appeal against sentence – Severity of sentence

Facts: The appellant had been convicted of multiple offences relating to the theft of property. The had been sentenced to 6 years in prison, and now appealed against the sentence.

Held by Mr. Justice Mahon in an ex tempore judgment, that the appeal would be dismissed. Whilst some criticism could be advanced in respect of the sentence handed down to the appellant and his co?accused, it could not be said that the judge had erred in principle or had failed to take into account any mitigating circumstances.

Judgment (ex tempore) of the Court delivered on 22nd February 2016 by Mr. Justice Mahon
1

The appellant pleaded guilty to a number of offences at Trim Circuit Criminal Court on 4th February, 2014. They were:-

? Robbery contrary to s. 14 of The Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001, and

? Aggravated Burglary contrary to s. 13(1) and (3) of The Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act, 2001

2

The appellant was sentenced on 13th November 2014 to concurrent sentences of six years in relation to these offences, and he has appealed against the sentences.

3

On 21st November 2012, at about 9.45 a.m., two men, being the appellant and his co-accused, entered Clonalvy Post Office in Co. Meath, armed with knives and wearing balaclavas. They manhandled Miss Mary Creed, an An Post employee, and a lady in her late eighties or early nineties, and demanded money. They specifically referred to a cash delivery known by them to have been made earlier that morning to the Post Office. Ms. Creed was threatened with the knives, and cash was demanded from the post office safe. As the appellant and his co-accused left the Post Office with stolen money they were confronted by a local man whereupon they dropped the money and attempted to flee in their car which failed to start. They then fled on foot.

4

The second offence relates to a house in the vicinity of the post office and which the appellant and his co-accused forcibly entered by smashing the glass on the front door. Again, armed with knives, they demanded the car keys from the occupant of the house, a Polish man in his eighties. The keys were handed over and the car was stolen, but was crashed some short distance away, whereupon the appellant and his co-accused proceeded to make good their escape on foot.

5

The raid on the post office was deeply traumatising for Miss Creed, and understandably so. Through a garda witness, she informed the court that she felt herself unlikely to ever recover from the experience and that she had not returned to her work in the post office, having worked there previously for fifteen years. Clearly the overall effect on Miss Creed was very substantial. The occupant of the house was a polish man who has since returned to Poland. Again, through a garda witness, the court was informed that this man was traumatised and terrified with what had occurred.

6

The appellant has one previous conviction for the unlawful possession of drugs in 2010 in respect of which he...

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2 cases
  • DPP v Pires
    • Ireland
    • Court of Appeal (Ireland)
    • 21 December 2016
  • Silaghi v Judge O'Hagan
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 27 January 2017
    ...of his less blemished previous record. Counsel for the First Applicant accepted that in the light of a recent Court of Appeal decision DPP v O'Neill [2016] IECA 58. that argument was not longer being made. That is a correct interpretation of the law, even though this courts view was that th......

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