Man loses appeal on severity of sentence for killing mother

THE Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by a Limerick man against the severity of the life sentence he received for the manslaughter of his mother.

Yesterday the court held that the imposition of the life sentence on Damien Donnan was correct given the “extreme circumstances” of the case.

In 2002, Donnan, aged 26, of De Valera Park, Limerick, had been found guilty of the manslaughter of his mother, Jennifer Donnan, in April 2000.

He had strangled his mother in an early morning fight over a cigarette.

In 2006, Mr Justice Paul Carney, imposed a life sentence suspended on certain conditions for the crime. However, in 2007 the sentence was activated after Donnan broke the terms of the suspension.

Yesterday Donnan’s appeal was dismissed as the court could see no error in principle with the sentence imposed.

Mr Justice Hardiman said in this case it was possible for Mr Justice Carney to impose a life sentence.

The judge said the issue of Donnan’s sanity had not been raised by the defence during the trial. The appeal court heard there was a conflict in the medical evidence.

Mr Justice Hardiman said that the trial judge, by stating that he did not attribute any moral blame to Donnan, held that Donnan had been suffering from a mental illness. The matter was adjourned on a number of occasions before the trial judge imposed a regime on Donnan “that might be of benefit to him”.

That regime was something that was urged upon the trial judge by Donnan’s legal team, however the judge said Donnan’s defence could not now complain about it.