DPP appeals leniency of sentence for Cork student who hit man 250 times in 20-minute attack

Judge Jonathan Dunphy imposed on 22-year-old Darragh McLoughlin of 23 Richmond Hill, Cork, a sentence of six-and-a-half years imprisonment with the last two-and-a-half years suspended. File picture

The four-year sentence handed down to a student who punched, struck, kicked and stamped on another man 250 times in a 20-minute attack in the centre of Cork City was appealed on Monday by the DPP for undue leniency.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy imposed on 22-year-old Darragh McLoughlin of 23 Richmond Hill, Cork, a sentence of six-and-a-half years imprisonment with the last two-and-a-half years suspended. The young man is serving that in the low security prison at Shelton Abbey.

Darragh McLoughlin admitted assault causing serious harm to a man at Paul Street, Cork, on October 18, 2022, as well as robbing his iPhone 7 – the whole incident starting some distance away at 1.15am on that date outside the Secret Garden nightclub at Rearden’s, followed by a chase through the streets and the prolonged assault on Paul Street.

At the Court of Criminal Appeal sitting in Cork on Monday, barrister Imelda Kelly said the DPP was appealing the net sentence of four years on the basis of undue leniency because of what she described as a multiplicity of aggravating factors, including the fact that it was persistent, prolonged, consisted of in excess of over 250 blows, comprising punches, kicks and stamps, the ferocity of the attack, the robbery of the victim’s phone and the use of it to video the ongoing attack for 77 seconds, involving 14 stamps and kicks to the head.

Other aggravating factors include the use of demeaning language, instructions to the victim to remove the only defence he had left (his arm in front of his face), “the callous removal of the arm to give 14 stamps/kicks to the injured party”, the fact that he left for three or four minutes and then returned. 

There is the removal of the outer trousers to the ankles and the shoes, and the dragging of the victim on the ground, as further aggravating factors.

'Animalistic'

Dean Kelly senior counsel for the accused said he had to address the seriousness of the assault not least in light of the visceral quality of it as depicted on CCTV shown in court.

“Mr McLoughlin describes his own behaviour as animalistic, shameful and appalling. His reaction throughout the criminal justice process was one of abject shame,” Mr Kelly said.

However, he said the DPP is left shaking her fist at a sentence just being too low but he said that the headline sentence of 10 years was appropriate, reduced to six-and-a-half years because of a signed plea of guilty and with the last two-and-a-half years suspended because of mitigating factors in relation to the defendant himself.

He said the 22-year-old was ashamed, had apologised, had mental health difficulties, and that there was "some background" between the parties which the defendant said was normal peer group rivalry and no more than that. 

Mr Kelly said: “He was not of a pathological disposition wanting to inflict violence on somebody – anybody – that night.” He said the suspended two-and-a-half years would undoubtedly be activated in full if he became involved in anything resembling drunken behaviour after his release from prison.

The three judges of the appeal court, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, Ms Justice Tara Burns and Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, reserved their decision on the appeal to a date that has not been set and it will be delivered when the court is sitting in Dublin.

The victim suffered multiple fractures of the right eye socket, fractures of nasal bones and was left with double vision and what was described as an ongoing deformity.

During a 77-second video-recording made by the assailant with the victim’s phone, the man on the ground with a bloody face is heard groaning and a voice is heard saying: “Look at you – you’re an embarrassment.” 

Victim impact statement

In his victim impact statement, read by Detective Garda Joe Crowley, he said it was undoubtedly the worst day of his life and he was still trying to fill in the gaps in his memory of what happened. He still has nightmares and flashbacks.

He found it extremely frightening to see the condition of his face in hospital – “I still don’t fully recognise myself.” He said that it affected him mentally and physically from waking up each morning until he goes to sleep at night and that it would affect him every day of his life. He said it had also deeply affected his family.

It was submitted by the defence that the accused had been on anti-depressant medication that night following a suicide attempt days earlier and that unfortunately he combined alcohol with medication. He brought €10,000 compensation to Cork Circuit Criminal Court for the injured party at the time of his original sentencing.