One of three former Anglo Irish Bank officials jailed for conspiring to conceal bank accounts from the Revenue Commissioners has walked free following a successful sentence appeal. Aoife Maguire (62), Rothe Abbey, South Circular Road, Kilmainham, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to conspiring to delete bank accounts from the bank's internal system and conspiring to defraud Revenue on dates in 2003 and 2004.
Following a two-month trial and nearly seven hours of deliberations, Ms Maguire and two co-accused were found guilty by a jury. She was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by Judge Patrick McCartan on July 31st, 2015.
Ms Maguire, who was an assistant manager at Anglo Irish Bank, successfully appealed her sentence yesterday on a number of grounds. The Court of Appeal quashed her original sentence, substituted a new nine-month sentence in its place and suspended any unserved portion.
Giving judgment, Mr Justice George Birmingham said this was a serious offence. Had there been a guilty plea, he said, it may be that custody could have been avoided. Ms Maguire should not be punished for pleading guilty, the judge said, but mitigation which might otherwise have been available was forfeited. If the judge felt custody could not have been avoided, it was appropriate for him to remind himself that he was sentencing someone without previous convictions and of positively good character.
Ms Maguire had made real contributions to society as a volunteer and had stepped away from her career to care for her mother, the judge said. Citing case law, Mr Justice Birmingham said that where a court was sentencing a first-time offender of previous good character, such a sentence need not be prolonged. It was the fact of the sentence rather than the duration that was most important.
Mr Justice Birmingham said the sentencing judge erred first in selecting an “unnecessarily severe” sentence of 18 months and then in failing to consider suspending any part of it.