Sentences extended for 'vicious' assault pair
DPP APPEAL OVER 'LENIENT' TERMS IN FATAL ATTACK CASE
TWO PEOPLE who kicked a man in the head during a 'vicious assault' have seen their jail sentences increased.
The DPP appealed the 'unduly lenient' sentences for violent disorder imposed on Clogherhead woman Louise Wall and Michael Cruise from Ballsgrove.
The pair were part of a group that attacked Darren Mckeown on December 26, 2007. Darren, pictured right, died three days later in hospital.
Both Wall and Cruise had admitted to kicking Mr Mckeown in the head as he lay on the ground. She admitted stamping on his head and chest and hitting Mr Mckeown (29) with a glass ashtray. THE COURT of Criminal Appeal has increased the jail sentences imposed on Clogherhead woman, Louise Wall and Michael Cruise, Ballsgrove, for violent disorder at Rowan Heights on December 26 2007.
Three days after the incident, Darren Mckeown - who had suffered 'a sustained, prolonged and vicious' attack over a period of two hours - died from his injuries.
The DPP had appealed the 'unduly lenient' sentences of five years with two years suspended which were imposed in November 2010 on the pair who both pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
Both Wall and Cruise, who had 31 previous convictions, were originally tried for murder which they both denied.
The murder trial collapsed when the trial judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict them of homicide.
This followed medical evidence which stated that the principal cause of Mr. Mckeown's death was a head injury which he received when he fell and hit his head off the ground.
Lawyers for the state told the court that Wall and Cruise (21) were part of a larger group which subjected Mr Mckeown to a 'sustained, prolonged and vicious' attack over a period of two hours. He died three days later in hospital.
Both Wall and Cruise had admitted to kicking Mr Mckeown in the head as he lay on the ground, while Wall admitted to stamping on his head and chest and hitting him with a glass ashtray.
Presiding judge, Mr. Justice Joseph Finnegan said that the sentencing judge had carefully considered the case, but the Court of Criminal Appeal found he had placed it at the incorrect point on the scale of seriousness.
Mr Justice Finnegan said the court had determined that Cruise, should return to prison to serve out a revised sentence of seven years with 18 months suspended, which would commence from October 1 2009.
On Wall, the court imposed a sentence of seven years with two years suspended and backdated it to April 9 2010 when the 23-year-old first went into custody.
