Man jailed for falsely imprisoning girl appeals jail term

A man jailed for falsely imprisoning an 11-year-old girl he “lifted” from a green area next to her hall door has moved to appeal against the severity of his 17-year sentence.

Michael Martin (37), who was living at Shandon Court, Yellow Road, Waterford city, when the incident occurred, had pleaded guilty to false imprisonment of the girl along the roadside near Oldtown, Cullahill, Co Laois, on March 4th last.

Judge Keenan Johnson sentenced Martin at Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court to 17 years’ imprisonment with the final four suspended on November 5th, 2015.

Portlaoise Circuit Criminal Court heard the crime occurred when the 11 year old was playing with her twin brothers, aged 10. Martin grabbed her “by her waist and put her feet first into” the jeep he was driving. The girl struggled and kicked and one of her brothers jumped on to the driver’s side of the jeep.

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The boy “clung to the driver’s door and continued to punch the accused while he attempted to move the vehicle. He was literally dangling from the jeep as the accused attempted to leave.”

With the driver distracted, the girl managed to escape.

Martin moved to appeal his sentence on Friday on a number of grounds including the “overly punative” nature of the sentence, in the words of his barrister, Kevin White.

Comparative cases

Mr White submitted to the Court of Appeal the sentence was entirely disproportionate to the circumstances of the case and was at variance with comparative cases. A further ground was the “protective” nature of the sentence and the emphasis the court placed on the need to protect society, Mr White submitted.

The sentencing judge remarked he would have imposed a life sentence on Martin but that measure was not available to him, Mr White said.

Counsel further submitted that the sentencing judge erred in holding that Martin failed to fully co-operate with the gardaí.

Finally, Mr White said the trial judge placed too much emphasis on the aggravating factors rather than focusing fairly on the mitigating factors.

Mr White said Martin had 92 previous convictions, the vast majority of which related to thefts and burglary, and only two were of relevance.

He said Martin was given 12 months for sexual assault in 2000.

Martin was subsequently involved in an “abduction case” when a 14-year-old girl travelled to Belfast with him. Martin, who was 25 at the time, remained in telephone contact with the girl’s parents during the incident and handed himself in, Mr White said. He was jailed for two years.

Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, John William Fennelly, said the appropriate sentence was adopted.

Psychological report

Mr Fennelly said it was a serious case and there were “red flags” in Martin’s prior record and in a psychological report.

It was a case of a very young child being lifted from a green area next to her hall door. He said the court had to have regard to the vulnerability of young children in cases such as that.

Mr Fennelly said Martin had a “very bad record” and was as culpabable for the crime as anybody else would have been having regard to what the court heard was “intellectual challenges”.

He said a letter of apology on the day of the trial might not be as mitigating as other forms of remorse might be.

Reserving judgment, Mr Justice George Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice Alan Mahon, said the case was of “enormous seriousness”.