Belfast loyalist Winston Irvine’s sentence referred to Court of Appeal

A sentence handed to leading Belfast loyalist Winston Irvine has been referred to the Court of Appeal.

Irvine was sentenced to two-and-a-half years, with half to be served in jail, at Belfast Crown Court last month following an incident where firearms and ammunition were found in the boot of his car.

The 49-year-old avoided a statutory five-year sentence on several of the charges he faced after Judge Gordon Kerr KC ruled that there were “exceptional circumstances” in his case, namely Irvine’s “work for peace and his charity work in the community”.

However, there was criticism by several political figures, including First Minister Michelle O’Neill, that the sentence had been too lenient.

On Friday it was announced that Northern Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron was referring the sentence to the Court of Appeal.

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) confirmed the referral has been lodged with the Court of Appeal.

“While sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary, the Director of Public Prosecutions does have the power to refer particular sentences to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they may be unduly lenient,” a PPS spokesperson said.

“An unduly lenient sentence is one that falls outside the range of sentences that a judge, taking into consideration all relevant factors and having regard to sentencing guidance, could reasonably impose. The sentence must not just be lenient but unduly lenient.

“After careful consideration of the sentence handed down in the case of Winston Irvine, including with the benefit of advices from independent Senior Counsel, we have determined that there is a sufficient legal basis to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.”

They said consideration was also given to the sentence handed down to Irvine’s co-accused Adam Robinson Workman, 54, who was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

But they said following careful consideration, it was determined that there was no legal basis on which to refer Workman’s sentence to the Court of Appeal as potentially unduly lenient.