Longford father of six has jail sentence increased by four years for 'savage and vicious' Shillelagh pub assault
Victim in Granard attack sustained lacerations to his head and bruising to both arms and legs after being left in a pool of blood on the floor of the pub
A father of six who struck another man up to 20 times with a shillelagh during a "savage and vicious" pub attack has had his 2.5-year jail term more than doubled by the Court of Appeal.
In January last year at Longford Circuit Criminal Court, Edward 'Blondie' Stokes (33) of Ferriskill, Granard, Co Longford, was given a three-year sentence with the final six months suspended for 12 months for violent disorder.
Judge Kenneth Connolly said the attack was a "frenzied" assault on then 27-year-old part time farmer John Baxter at Kane's Bar, Main Street, Granard, during lunchtime on October 7, 2018.
Stokes was also sentenced to two years and three months for endangerment and to 18 months for the production of an article, all of which were to run concurrently. Stokes had pleaded not guilty to all counts but a unanimous jury verdict found him guilty on all counts after a nine-day trial.
"This was a particularly savage, vicious and sustained assault on Mr Baxter by Mr Stokes and other persons present that involved about 20 or more blows to Mr Baxter," said Judge Connolly, adding he believed the blunt instrument used to be a “shillelagh”.
Mr Baxter sustained lacerations to his head and bruising to both arms and legs after being left in a pool of blood on the floor of the pub.
The State successfully appealed the sentence on grounds of undue leniency and at the Court of Appeal today (Thursday, March 21), Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the court would quash the original sentence and increase Stokes’ jail time by four years.
Shane P Geraghty BL, for the State, submitted that the overall term of two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment had been unduly lenient, specifically regarding the sentence for violent disorder.
Mr Geraghty said the incident happened at around 1.40pm on a Sunday afternoon in a public house when others were present and where children were in the vicinity.
CCTV footage played to the three-judge court showed a male in a physical altercation with Mr Baxter before Stokes and another man enter with bats or shillelaghs and strike the injured party around 20 times each.
Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said there had been “an element of savagery” from what she had viewed on CCTV.
Mr Geraghty said the attack had been one of “joint enterprise that was premeditated”.
“It was preplanned. Stokes arrived there in a vehicle. It wasn’t opportunistic in that there were weapons involved. The three males arrived at the location hell-bent on causing injuries,” said counsel.
Referring to the CCTV footage, Mr Geraghty said there had been a “calmness and coolness in the way Stokes goes about this”.
Counsel said that Stokes moved a table during the incident “so he can get the headshots and that is the intention of Mr Stokes”.
Barry White SC, for Stokes, said that while the sentence “might be a lenient one, it is not an unduly lenient one”.
Mr White said the trial judge had “specifically taken all aggravating factors into account” when sentencing his client and had also viewed the CCTV footage.
Ms Justice Kennedy said Stokes had two previous convictions for assault, which was “aggravating and relevant” to the case and that mitigation was “very slight”.
In quashing the original sentence, Mr Justice McCarthy said “great violence” had been used in the attack and that a table had been moved by Stokes in order to get further access to the head of the injured party.
Noting that the maximum penalty for violent disorder is 10 years’ imprisonment, Mr Justice McCarthy said the court could not agree with the trial judge’s placing of the headline sentence at four years.
“The trial judge engaged thoroughly but we cannot agree the headline was correct. We quash the sentence on violent disorder and will proceed to re-sentencing,” said the judge.
Mr Justice McCarthy said that, given the aggravating factors present in the case, the appropriate headline sentence was eight years.
The judge said mitigating factors in the case were “very modest” in that Stokes has a family and a business but noted no guilty plea had been entered in the case.
Mr Justice McCarthy then reduced Stokes’ sentence to seven years’ imprisonment with the final six months suspended leaving Stokes having to serve six-and-a-half years in jail.