'You'd get less for manslaughter': Man with 231 previous convictions moans about 5.5 year jail term
Accused threatened to throw ammonia in garda’s face, attacked two prison officers and stashed fake firearm in a tree
A criminal with 231 previous convictions who threatened to throw ammonia in a female garda’s face, attacked two prison officers and stashed an imitation firearm in a tree has complained that his five-and-a-half-year prison sentence is too high.
Michael Farrell (32) had pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm in 2022, one count of threatening to kill or cause serious harm in 2021 and a fourth count of possessing a realistic imitation firearm in a tree at his home in Montpelier Gardens, Dublin 7 in 2020.
When sentenced last December, Farrell remarked, “you’d get less for manslaughter,” before he was escorted away by prison officers.
Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Elma Sheahan noted that Farrell had acquired a serious brain injury when he was knocked down by a coal truck at the age of six, leaving him with a mild intellectual disability.
She sentenced Farrell to six years in prison with the final six months suspended and ordered him to comply with all directions from the Probation Services on his release.
At the Court of Appeal, counsel for Farrell, Karl Monahan BL submitted that the sentencing judge in the case took inadequate account of Farrell’s personal circumstances. Mr Monahan said because of Farrell’s “very complex needs” and developmental issues, he was someone who would need considerable time to work with the relevant services.
Mr Monahan said the appellant’s only previous conviction for violence dated back to when he was 18. He said the threat to the garda was effectively retracted and Farrell had indicated that he had been “frustrated” and that “he never meant to act on it”.
Mr Monahan also submitted that Farrell’s intellectual disability and brain inquiry were likely to add significantly to the intensity of the hardship imposed on him by prison life. He said this would make imprisonment a more difficult experience for him than for most other inmates.
Derek Cooney BL, for the State, said there had been no error in principle on the part of the sentencing judge who he said had taken a “careful approach” and “didn’t rush to judgement”.
The lawyer said Farrell had previously had 18 months of an earlier sentence suspended but this did not appear to have worked because “he keeps on offending when released from prison”.
At his sentencing hearing, the court was told Farrell launched unprovoked attacks on two prison officers on March 10, 2022 in Mountjoy Prison, striking one with a closed fist to his mouth which required three stitches.
A second prison officer intervened to try and restrain Farrell and suffered a fracture to his little finger in the process.
The court also heard that in March the previous year, Farrell was undergoing psychological assessment at Cloverhill Prison.
He referred to a female garda who had previously objected to his bail, stating that when he saw her he would “throw a bottle of ammonia” in her face. When asked to retract this threat, Farrell responded: “I don’t care.”
The fourth count related to an incident in 2020 when Farrell was in the front garden of his home and pulled up his top, displaying what looked like a firearm to a woman who was driving to work at a local hospital.
During a search of his home the following day, a quantity of drugs were found for which Farrell later received an 18 month sentence. He also told gardaí that they would find the firearm hidden in a tree in his garden.
The weapon was analysed and found to be a realistic imitation firearm.