Galway law professor calls Alison Chawke’s early prison release after attack 'strange'

A Senior counsel and retired Professor of Law at University of Galway said “it does seem strange” that Alison Chawke was released four weeks into a 12-month prison sentence.

Ms Chawke, aged 41, and her brother Bill Chawke pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to two men at the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare, on November 9, 2023.

Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard that Ms Chawke, aged 41, bit one of the victims on the left cheek with such force that she “locked on".

On July 14 last, Ms Chawke was sentenced to two years and two months with the final 14 months suspended for two years and two months on her own bond of €1,000 and on the condition that she keep the peace and be of good behaviour.

A source confirmed to Limerick Live that the mother-of-three was released from Limerick Female Prison on Tuesday, August 11 - exactly four weeks into her 12-month jail sentence.

It is understood Ms Chawke, of The Beeches, Holywell, Goatstown, Dublin 14 was released as part of the Community Return Scheme.

Professor Tom O'Malley, senior counsel and retired Professor of Law at University of Galway, was asked on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland programme if it is unusual for a person who's sentenced to a year in prison for a violent assault to be released after just one month?

“Yes, I would think it is. I would not have any kind of firm statistics on that, but as you rightly said there a moment ago, her initial sentence was two years and two months, with the last fourteen months suspended. So she had got quite a significant concession before she ever set foot in prison,” said Prof O’Malley.

He continued: “There is this system that they have called the Community Return Scheme - when a person is serving a short sentence like a year, they can be released at any time. But in light of the circumstances of the case, and again I don't know why exactly this happened, but it does seem strange that somebody would be released after just serving one month of a sentence that was a year or two years and two months, depending on how you like look at it.”

Prof O’Malley was asked what factors would be considered when deciding who should avail of that scheme.

“Well, I would think risk of reoffending is the principal factor. Obviously, there's a lot to be said for the Community Return Scheme because it can help people to get reintegrated back into the community.

“And it's particularly important for people coming out of prison for many prisoners, at least, that they're given some kind of supervision and some kind of help to readjust to liberty after having been in prison. So there's a lot to be said for it. Under the Community Return Scheme, they are expected to carry out some unpaid work, a bit like community service.”

Prof O’Malley agreed that the “chronically overcrowded” prison system would have been a factor in Ms Chawke’s early release.

“For most of this year, for example, the prison system as a whole has been operating at about a 125% capacity, which means that there are around a thousand more people in custody than there is actual bed capacity for.

“At Limerick (Female) Prison, this is, in percentage terms at least, usually the worst hit. For example, at the beginning of this month, it was operating at a 170%. Now, the strange thing about it is that Limerick Women's Prison is the newest prison in the country.

“It was opened just about three years ago. In many ways, it's a model prison in terms of the accommodation that it has, the facilities and so on. But it was, I suppose, simply too small. It's designed to accommodate 56 people, but for most of the time over the last few months, indeed, I would think for the last year or two, the total number of inmates has been about 90 to 95.

“So it's a kind of an interesting case study on both good planning and bad planning. The prison itself was very well-planned, but unfortunately, there was what appears to be a serious underestimate of the number of people it would have to accommodate.

“So therefore, it's understandable, and indeed, there's a lot to be said for the idea of having something like a community release scheme where you can, if you like, reduce the overcrowding to some extent by releasing people on a selected basis, namely people who are predicted to be at a low risk of offending.

The comments of Matt Carthy, Sinn Féin justice spokesman, which were reported in the Irish Times, were read out on air.

The TD said Ms Chawke’s release “does raise serious questions”. Deputy Carthy asked: “Why has a woman from a well-to-do background, who has been convicted of a serious violent crime that involved kicking somebody in the head, been released under the Community Return Scheme after serving so little time?”

Deputy Carthy added: “We have to be clear that those who commit violent crimes, be they male or female, should in the interest of justice serve the custodial sentence that they were given.”

Prof O’Malley was asked if a person's income status has any bearing on whether they would be eligible for early release and does Deputy Carthy have a point in that people should serve the sentences that the courts hand down?

“Well, first of all, in terms of their income status, it should not have any impact whatsoever. Generally speaking it doesn't. If you have somebody like Alison Chawke who had no previous convictions and whose life so far had been, if you like, crime-free, that's the kind of person that will be regarded as a good risk in terms of being unlikely to re-offend.

“Now, in terms of serving the full sentence, well, actually, very, very few prisoners serve their full sentence. Everyone is entitled to a quarter remission of the sentence that they're actually given by the courts, and very often they get early release by one means or another before that. But again, I would agree that it is important that people should serve a reasonable portion of their sentence before being released back into the community,” said Prof O’Malley

He said it is a conditional release and if a person re-offends, they go back to prison or they can be re-convicted of a later offence.

“But having said that, yes, I would agree that it is important in terms of justice and in terms of maintaining public confidence in the system, that people would serve a reasonable portion, at least, of the sentence that they're actually given by the courts,” said Mr O’Malley.

Following a media query from Limerick Live to the Irish Prison Service, a spokesperson said: “The Irish Prison Service does not comment on individual prisoner cases.”

Limerick Live also contacted the Department of Justice who said: “Your query would be best directed to the Irish Prisons Service.”

A Department of Justice spokesperson did tell the Irish Times: “While the Department cannot comment on individual cases, Minister O'Callaghan is acutely aware of the capacity constraints in our prisons and the resulting challenges faced by those who work and live in our prisons."