The 18-month jail term handed down to a man who falsely imprisoned, threatened to kill and subjected his partner to a series of violent attacks where he repeatedly punched and kicked her, spat in her face and strangled her was too lenient, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Cameron Curtis' victim told gardaí that she became "incredibly scared" and believed she was going to die when he locked her in a bathroom and said he was going to get a pair of scissors.
During one phase of the attacks, Curtis (20) knelt on the victim's chest and told her: “I'm going to kill you.” The sentencing court heard that Curtis and the victim remain in a relationship together.
Curtis of Finglas Road, Finglas, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Alannah Corrigan causing her harm on July 19th 2022, when the two were staying overnight at The Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire.
He further admitted seven counts of assault causing harm and one count of false imprisonment of Ms Corrigan on August 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th at various locations in Binary Hub, Bonham Street in Dublin 8 and was jailed for 18 months by Judge Orla Crowe.
Sentence
At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, presiding judge Mr Justice George Birmingham said the three-judge court agreed with Simon Matthews BL, for the State, that the 18-month sentence was unduly lenient.
Mr Matthews told the non-jury court that the trial judge identified a headline sentence of three years and four months on all charges which was then reduced to two years and six months after mitigation.
The last year of all the concurrent sentences was then suspended for two years in the interests of rehabilitation, leaving a total of 18 months jail time for Curtis to serve. Curtis has now served his sentence after spending around 14 months in jail.
Mr Matthews said both the headline sentence and the final sentence to serve were both unduly lenient.
Mr Matthews said the assaults were over four different dates and were of a "prolonged" nature before a "normality period" would pass, and then the assaults would begin again.
That Curtis was in an intimate relationship with the injured party was an aggravating factor, added Mr Matthews.
Counsel said that in addition to the beatings, which included punches, kicks, the production of a knife and threats of weapons, Curtis had locked the injured party in a bathroom for 45 minutes and also prevented her from leaving a kitchen.
Mr Matthews said that on one occasion Curtis also kneeled on the injured party's chest for around 15 minutes.
Counsel added that while he accepted that Curtis had a violent family background, a risk of reoffending had been noted in a probation report in the context of Curtis still being in a relationship with the victim.
Mr Matthews said that Curtis, who has served his sentence after having it backdated to September 2022, told probation officers that he had no intention of moving back in with his victim, but this claim differed to what the injured party had said in her statement.
Lenient sentence
Barry White SC, for Curtis, submitted that the sentence was "a lenient sentence, but I do not accept that it was unduly lenient".
Mr White said the trial judge had regard to the "seriousness of the offending regarding my client" and that she had taken into account the victim's impact statement when structuring Curtis' sentence.
Addressing the question of rehabilitation, Mr White said: "Judge Crowe was looking at a 19-year-old with no previous, who came from a violent background and unfortunately, violence tends to beget violence".
Mr White said he had to accept the contents of the probation report's concerns "warts and all" regarding the risk of reoffending and said that the trial judge was also cognisant of the risk when she sentenced his client.
Counsel said that if his client reoffended, then the suspended portion of his sentence would be reactivated and that this was "not to be totally disregarded".
Mr White said Curtis was working with the probation service and that "they have a good relationship". Counsel added that his client was incarcerated at 19 and had learned his lesson and understood the seriousness of his offending.
Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was of the opinion that the sentence was "not just lenient but unduly lenient".
Probation report
Mr Justice Birmingham said the court wanted an updated probation report before finalising matters.
"He [Curtis] needs to be aware his situation is a very precarious one. He needs to put his best foot forward regarding his commitment to probation and employment efforts," Mr Justice Birmingham told Mr White.
Mr Justice Birmingham said the "very serious" matter was not "something that can be put on the long finger" by Curtis, who was unable to attend Thursday's hearing due to illness.
Mr Justice Birmingham said if Curtis was unable to attend the next sitting the court would not be prevented from proceeding with his case, which he adjourned to March 1st.
Sentence hearing
At his sentencing last July, Judge Orla Crowe said Curtis committed a series of repeated assaults over four weeks, with an escalation of the violence meted out to Ms Corrigan.
Judge Crowe said Ms Corrigan couldn’t breathe and thought she was going to die when Curtis had her in a chokehold and that medical photos showed severe bruising all over her body.
The judge noted that Curtis had no previous convictions and had a very difficult childhood, where he was exposed to domestic violence to such a level that he was taken into care.
“He has been visiting upon his partner that which he witnessed in his young life,” said Judge Crowe.
Detective Garda Mark Costello agreed with counsel for the defence, Mr White, that Ms Corrigan was a “hostile witness” and that herself and Curtis remained in a relationship.
Violent incidents
The court heard that Curtis accused Ms Corrigan of cheating on him and became violent when she would not disclose her Snapchat password to him.
Gda Costello told Mr Matthews that Ms Corrigan had booked them a room in the Royal Marine Hotel for one night when Curtis accused her of cheating and threatened to smash a glass Kopparberg cider bottle over her head if she didn't tell him who she was cheating with.
Ms Corrigan later told gardaí that Curtis hit her face 10 or 11 times with his fist and that she was screaming throughout the assault.
Staff members came to the scene and described Curtis as “aggressive and rude”, the court heard.
Weeks later, the couple were staying in Ms Corrigan's sister's room at student accommodation at Binary Hub on Bonham Street when Curtis again assaulted the victim.
Ms Corrigan later told gardaí that Curtis slapped her in the face when she wouldn't disclose her Snapchat password, before calming down and having what she described as “periods of normality” before he became violent again.
The couple slept for a while before Ms Corrigan woke to him grabbing her by the neck, demanding her password and dragging her by the hair to the ground.
He kicked her on both arms and legs, punched her head and jaw several times, slapped her and spat in her face before calming down again, the court heard.
Ms Corrigan said he later accused her of cheating again and punched her in the face and then the following morning apologised for the injuries he had caused before becoming violent again.
Ms Corrigan said Curtis pulled her by her hair around the bathroom and then punched her in the face while he was on the phone to his mother, causing her to bleed heavily.
She said a period of normality followed for two hours before Curtis again became violent, knelt on Ms Corrigan's chest and said: “I'm going to kill you.”
The victim was dragged by her hair and neck into the bathroom, thrown on the wet floor and locked in for 45 minutes.
After Ms Corrigan was released from the bathroom, Curtis threatened her with a knife, calmed down for half an hour, then grew violent again, throwing a mobile phone at her head.
He kicked his girlfriend on both legs, slapped her face, stamped on her and wrapped his arms around her neck in what she described as a “chokehold” during an assault lasting over half an hour, the court heard.
At one point while Ms Corrigan lay crying on the bed saying “please stop hurting me,” Curtis started crying and said: “Look at what you made me do. You're making me out to be like my Da and I hated my Da for what he used to do to my Ma.”
Ms Corrigan told gardaí that she became incredibly scared and believed she was going to die when Curtis locked her in the bathroom a second time and said he was going to get scissors.
The court heard she managed to get out of the bathroom and locked him out of the bedroom, but he kicked the door down before leaving when she started screaming.
Gardaí attended the scene and Ms Corrigan was treated for her injuries, which were photographed.
Some days later, Ms Corrigan was again attacked by Curtis in the room next door, as the previous room was uninhabitable because of the damage done during the previous assaults.
He again kicked and punched her repeatedly, accused her of cheating, demanded her Snapchat password, dragged her by the hair and strangled her by squeezing her throat until she couldn't breathe and felt she was going to get sick.
Ms Corrigan managed to raise the alarm and gardaí arrived and arrested Curtis. He was deemed unfit for interview for a lengthy period but then underwent six garda interviews, making certain admissions to offences on August 16 but none on previous dates.
At the time of the assaults, Curtis had no previous convictions.
Judge Crowe ordered Curtis to remain under probation supervision for two years upon his release from prison and to engage with all offence-focused work as recommended, including anger management and treatment programmes for domestic violence.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.
Safe Ireland also outlines a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
