"Lying Eyes" Sharon Collins freed from prison

Motorist wrote: »

The DPP are appealing the leniency of that sentence.

Yeah, I heard that. It's good news though we'll just to wait and see what the outcome will be.

0066ad wrote: »

They probably needed her cell, for someone that hasn't paid their tv license.

or someone who bought a shitload of garlic

Biggins wrote: »

In England and Wales, as an "attempt", attempted murder is an offence under section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 and is an indictable offence which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment - here, the max she got for planning attempted murder was six years, and out in just under four. LINK.

The law yet again is an ass in Ireland.

Honestly, where is the serious deterrent?

The guiding principle in sentencing policy in Ireland is proportionality, It's summed up in DPP V O'Driscoll which is quoted a lot in Irish cases-

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[FONT=cd9800348d99a6a109e23138#400400]“It is therefore the duty of the courts to pass what are appropriate sentences in each case having regard to the particular circumstances of that case – not only in regard to the particular crime but in regard to the particular criminal.”[/FONT]

This is why we have very few mandatory sentences in Ireland. The two best examples are murder which gets life and possession of drugs worth over €12,700 is supposed to get 10 years. If the DPP thinks a sentence is too short they can appeal it to a superior court.

AFAIK The relativley short sentence in the Sharon Collins case was imposed due to the utter ineptitude of the planned murder attempt and the high probability that she would not reoffend. If a known scumbag was found in possession of a gun near the home of someone he had threatened to kill then I think the sentence would mosy likely be a lot longer.

Irish law differs from English law in that preventative sentences are not allowed i.e. the court can't increase the length of a sentence in order to prevent possible future re-offending. If you think this is utter bollocks then I'd have to agree with you, but I don't think that would apply in this case. This is distinct from the parole system which can keep an offender in prison for the full duration of a sentence to prevent re-offending.

By the by attempted murder is a pretty difficult offence to prove in Ireland. There is a loophole in Irish law whereby if you were to attempt to murder someone but only succeeded in maiming them you can't be charged with attempted murder as you haven't succeeded.
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tonyheaney wrote: »

who is Sharon Collins?

You couldn't google it?

Corkbah wrote: »

from September the thread was buried ...and somehow you come on today asking who "Sharon Collins" is.

wow you are very good for stating the blatantly obviousness of my question, well done