A serial burglar who broke into two homes while the occupants were present, entering the bedroom of a 21-year-old student and stealing car keys from her bedside locker as she slept, has been sent back to prison just a week after being released after the Court of Appeal found that his original sentence was too lenient.
Wayne O’Callaghan (35), of Brooklodge Grove, Glanmire, Cork, was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment with the final four months suspended by Judge James McCourt at Cork Circuit Court on November 21st, 2023, for burglary at an address at Vienna Wood Villas, Glanmire, Cork on October 1st, 2022.
He was further sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for the unauthorised taking of a car from Marwood Close, Riverstown, Glanmire, Cork on September 30th, 2022, with both sentences to run concurrently.
O’Callaghan had pleaded guilty to both offences, and three further charges of trespass with intent at other residential properties in Marwood Close on September 30th, 2022, were also taken into account.
The court heard O’Callaghan had been released from prison last week.
Quashing the original sentence at the Court of Appeal on Friday and resentencing O’Callaghan to five years in prison, Ms Justice Tara Burns said the court was of the opinion that the original headline sentence of three years for burglary and 15 months in respect of the unauthorised taking identified by the sentencing judge was “simply too low” and represented an error in principle.
The judge noted there were a number of aggravating factors in the case.
Ms Justice Burns said O’Callaghan had entered the property in Glanmire through a faulty locked door and went into the downstairs bedroom, where a 21-year-old woman was sleeping alone at the time, and took the keys of her car from the locker next to where she slept.
He then took the vehicle, which contained her laptop worth €3,000, from the driveway.
Ms Justice Burns said CCTV footage showed O’Callaghan entering three other neighbouring premises on the same occasion.
Just after 1am that night, he entered another residential property, where three family members were sleeping, through an unlocked door.
He stole a number of items from the house, including Apple watches and iPhones, car keys and a purse containing €100. The total value of the goods taken was over €2,700.
Addiction
Ms Justice Burns noted that the respondent had started abusing drugs in his early teens and was labouring under “a significant drug addiction” at the time of the offending.
The judge said the court was of the view that an appropriate headline sentence in respect of burglary was one of seven years imprisonment. Taking mitigating factors into account, including his early guilty plea, the court would reduce this to five years in prison.
A two-year sentence was imposed for the unauthorised taking charge, with both sentences to run concurrently.
During Friday’s hearing, the State argued that the original sentence imposed was too lenient and should be increased.
Aoife O’Leary BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the trial judge had erred in failing to attach appropriate weight to the aggravating factors in the case and in particular failed to have appropriate regard to the relevant previous convictions of the respondent.
O’Callaghan has 68 previous convictions, including 15 for burglary, two for robbery and 12 for unauthorised taking of motor vehicles.
Antoinette Simon BL, for O’Callaghan, submitted that the sentencing judge carefully considered the applicable case law in determining the ultimate sentence, which was one that was within the margin of appreciation afforded to him.
