The two-year jail sentence handed down to a robber with 92 previous convictions who rammed garda cars while travelling the wrong way down a motorway was significantly too lenient, the Court of Appeal found as it more than trebled the offender's prison time.
At the Court of Appeal on Thursday, Mr Justice George Birmingham said the original four-year sentence with the final two years suspended was “unduly lenient to a significant extent”, as he resentenced Alan Melia (29) to seven-and-a-half years with the final year suspended.
Melia, of Cherry Orchard Avenue, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, had pleaded guilty to robbery at Applegreen filling station, Tullynacross, Lisburn, Co Down, and endangerment, dangerous driving and criminal damage at various locations on the M1 in Louth, all on August 23rd, 2020.
Melia was armed with a screwdriver and accompanied by another individual when he entered the filling station on the day before escaping with stolen cash in a black Ford Focus, which had the back window smashed in.
He was observed by gardaí driving on the M1 and stopped after the gardaí activated the blue lights, but when the garda got out of the patrol car, the Ford Focus reversed, smashing into the patrol car and forcing the garda to jump out of its way.
Other gardaí joined the pursuit while the Ford Focus travelled the wrong way on the motorway, forcing a motorist to brake to avoid a head-on collision.
Two further garda vehicles were damaged in intercepting Melia, including one used by the Armed Support Unit.
Appealing the undue leniency of the original sentence, Simon Matthews BL, acting on behalf of the State, said that Judge Patrick Quinn set a headline sentence of six years at Dundalk Courthouse in January 2023, which was then reduced to four with two years of that suspended.
Mr Matthews said that the respondent had 92 previous convictions, nine of which were imposed in the circuit court. He said that Melia was the main aggressor in the robbery and the main participant in the subsequent driving offences, with only some of the stolen money recovered.
Mr Matthews said that four years for robbery before the reduction and 12 months on the criminal damage charge was unduly lenient.
“The sentence as a whole was unduly lenient, but in particular the suspension of 50 per cent,” said Mr Matthews.
Counsel said that the headline sentence of six years was unduly lenient, particularly regarding the history of the respondent who had previous convictions for offences of violence and dangerous driving.
He contended that the sentencing judge had not given enough consideration to these previous convictions.
He said that Melia had a “high moral culpability by way of his actions”, suggesting that the range should be six to 10 years.
Defence counsel Keith Spencer BL said that there had been an initial pursuit by members of the public who were present in the store, with one witness saying she pushed one of the assailants whom she believed to be Meila and confronted him.
He said that no violence was used before both men made good their escape, which led to a pursuit by gardaí.
Mr Spencer said the robbery was described as premeditated, but there had been no longstanding premeditation. A witness had said that Melia was shouting incoherently, which had been perceived as a threat that then led to a physical altercation.
Mr Spencer acknowledged that this had been a serious offence, but nobody had been injured. He said that the damage caused to one garda car was €5,900, while two other garda cars incurred damage of €3,900 and just over €1,000 respectively.
Mr Spencer said this was serious offending, but it all took place over the course of an hour and was all bound up with attempts to evade capture.
He said his client entered an early guilty plea and had experienced a difficult upbringing, which he suggested was enough mitigation for the sentencing judge to reduce the headline sentence from six to four years before suspending some of it to encourage rehabilitation.
In delivering the court’s judgment, Mr Justice Birmingham said that this was “offending of a very serious nature indeed” and the ultimate sentence was “unduly lenient to a significant extent”.
In re-sentencing, Mr Justice Birmingham said that if the robbery offence stood in isolation, a headline sentence of seven to eight years would be appropriate, however the offence and subsequent sentence could not be viewed in isolation.
He noted the respondent’s appalling record of previous convictions, as well as the serious criminal damage of reversing a vehicle into a Garda car, which caused a garda to jump for safety, before two more cars were damaged while Melia deliberately drove the wrong way.
Mr Justice Birmingham said that the headline sentence could not be less than 10 years, but after considering the mitigation of Melia’s guilty plea and his cooperation in consenting to have the robbery offence dealt with in this jurisdiction, the judge reduced this to seven-and-a-half years, with the final year suspended for 12 months.
By Ryan Dunne
