The court heard Kirwan was returning to work after lunch at 2pm on February 22, 2021, when he punched Laurence ‘Larry’ Leacy causing him serious bodily harm. Kirwan admitted at the scene that he had “cut” the victim and this was supported by photographic evidence showing that the damage to the vehicle was limited to the rear-view mirror only.

She initially left the area but returned immediately after driving the short distance home where she picked up her husband. Kirwan’s car was in good condition, his documents were in order and he was not under the influence of any narcotics at the time.

The victim was airlifted to Tallaght Hospital and then transferred to Beaumont Hospital, where he later died.

Judgment

At the sentencing hearing it was said Leacy had suffered spinal fractures, a fractured tibia and a scalp laceration. While in the hospital he suffered kidney failure and the immediate cause of death was a respiratory tract infection.

Passing judgment at the Court of Appeal on Monday, Judge Patrick McCarthy said the matter came to court after a lapse of time and because of what some might consider a articulation or development in the law some time ago.

“The Consequential Disqualification Order (CDO) that had been imposed was conceived as a mandatory order when in reality it was a discretionary order,” the judge said, adding that this constituted an error of principle.

Judge McCarthy said the three-judge court would quash the original sentence and four-year driving ban and impose a disqualification of two years and four months in its place, backdated to July 7, 2022.

Therefore, the judge indicated that the disqualification would be enforced as of today.

Judge McCarthy said the court was of the view that the one-year prison sentence suspended in its entirety by the sentencing judge was the appropriate sentence in this case.

“We will impose the one-year sentence and suspend it unconditionally because we are obligated to impose it de novo (again) in every way,” he said.

today’s audience

At Monday’s appeal hearing, Jordan Fletcher BL, representing Ms Kirwan, claimed the sentencing judge “wrongly” applied a four-year Consequential Disqualification Order (CDO) on top of the one-year suspended sentence in circumstances in which both the defense and the prosecution believed that the Circuit Criminal Court was required to do so.

He said this was based on a 2017 Court of Appeal decision which was later overturned in a subsequent judgment in 2022 when the three-judge court held that a CDO only arises if there have been at least two previous offenses contrary to Section 52 committed. within three years. years prior to the crime.

Fletcher said his client has no previous convictions.

He said Kirwan has three children and transportation to school for one family member had become an issue as the bus is a lottery system and his son had not been assigned a spot on the bus this year. He said the family lives in a rural area of ​​Wexford and the school is some distance away.

The lawyer said Kirwan had previously worked as a legal secretary but now works full time in a client service role and is someone who is well thought out in her work.

He said that she was “truly sorry” for what happened and that she had attended grief counseling as a result of this incident. He said that what happened had been a “momentary lack of concentration” on his part.