THE COURT of Criminal Appeal has quashed a three-year jail sentence imposed on an actor for assaulting a man who later died after developing a blood clot on his brain.
The three judge court decided yesterday the original sentence imposed on actor Darren Healy for assaulting Philip Bryan was unduly severe and substituted a suspended sentence of two years. Healy had been on bail pending the outcome of his appeal against severity of sentence.
Healy (29), The Cottage, Killegar, Enniskerry, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in October 2007 to assaulting Mr Bryan causing him harm at Eamon Doran’s Pub in Temple Bar on June 10th, 2005. Mr Bryan died in 2008.
Judge Patricia Ryan heard doctors had been unable to establish if the blood clot was caused by Healy’s assault on Mr Bryan or by his subsequent fall when he hit his head on a step. She imposed a four-year sentence on Healy, suspending the final year.
After the incident in the pub, Mr Bryan was taken to hospital for treatment but discharged himself and returned home. After being found unconscious, he was rushed back to hospital the following day and treated for a blood clot on his brain.
Yesterday, the Court of Criminal Appeal, with Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan presiding and sitting with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, ruled that any sentence in this case “ought to be suspended” as there was no intention by Healy to cause the serious injuries Mr Bryan sustained.
Judge Ryan had not correctly applied all the relevant factors when formulating the original sentence and a sentence of four years was excessive, the court held. A two-year term was more appropriate given the circumstances, it said.
Earlier, Bernard Condon, for Healy, argued the trial judge had erred by paying significant attention to the “seriousness of the assault”. Healy had punched Mr Bryan twice in the face and Mr Bryan then fell to the ground hitting his head, counsel said. Healy had never intended to cause such injuries and had offered €5,000 compensation, he added.
Mr Condon said the maximum sentence was five years. After the incident, Healy contacted gardaí and voluntarily made a statement. He had eight previous convictions for public order offences.
Garnet Orange, for the DPP, said that had a suspended sentence been imposed, the DPP would not have appealed it on grounds of undue leniency.
Healy has appeared in TV programmes including The Clinic, Love Is the Drug, Proofand On Home Ground.