A three-year sentence imposed earlier this year on one of the prisoners involved in the 1997 Mountjoy Prison siege was doubled to six years by the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday.
The three-judge court increased the sentence imposed by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in February on Edward Ferncombe (27), of Harelawn Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin. A two-year sentence imposed on another prisoner, Eamonn Seery (35), Coultry Road, Ballymun, Dublin, was allowed stand.
An appeal against both sentences had been taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions on the basis that the terms were unduly lenient. During the siege, prison officers were held hostage and threatened.
The Court of Criminal Appeal agreed with the DPP's claim that the three-year sentence on Ferncombe was unduly lenient, but said the two-year sentence on Seery was not so unduly lenient as to be interfered with.
Both men had pleaded guilty in the Circuit Criminal Court to falsely imprisoning a prison officer in January 1997. Their sentences for that offence were imposed consecutive to the sentences which they are currently serving.
Ferncombe was serving a nine-year sentence for manslaughter and Seery was serving an eight-year sentence imposed in 1993. Giving the judgment, Mr Justice Barron said the sentences arose from events at the prison on July 4th, 5th and 6th, 1997, when four prison officers were held captive by six prisoners. The position was extremely serious and aggravated by the manner by which the officers were treated. Two of the officers had to leave the service afterwards.
Seery had stated that he did not really threaten the officers and, in the view of the court, he was not part of the escalation of violence that erupted. It had been stated that he would have been a stabilising influence and there were letters in his favour from a chaplain and a psychiatrist. He had been in prison for all but 11 weeks since he was 19.
The court could not overlook what had happened on the occasion, particularly the use of infected syringes. Prison officers must be protected and there was no excuse for violence against them.
Having regard to all the factors, including the length of time Seery was in prison, the sentence, while on the lenient side, was not so lenient as to warrant interference with.
Ferncombe had been involved in the violence and an active member of the flare-up, the judge said. In his case, the sentence imposed was unduly lenient and the appropriate sentence was six years, not three.