Disqualification was disproportionate for the offence of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm

Kennedy J: Criminal law – appeal against severity of sentence – 4 years’ imprisonment with final year suspended – dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm – failing/refusing to comply with a requirement to provide a sample – disqualification from holding a driving licence for 10 years – serious road traffic accident – paramedics at the scene – injured party taken to Cork University Hospital by air ambulance – request made by Gardaí to obtain a sample of blood or urine from both drivers – injured party provided a sample but appellant refused – evidence from a witness that appellant’s car was being driven erratically – shortly afterwards, appellant’s vehicle crossed the white line into oncoming traffic and collided with injured party’s car – serious collision investigators found that accident occurred in the injured party’s lane – appellant acknowledges that he lost control of the vehicle, traversed the white and crashed into oncoming traffic – injured party sustained serious injuries – injured party’s husband and daughter who were also passengers in the car sustained injuries – accident has had a profound impact on the victim’s mental health – sentencing judge identified a headline sentence of five years’ imprisonment and reduced this to four years in light of guilty plea and personal circumstances – 10 years driving disqualification – further suspension of one year of the four years imprisonment – judge imposed six months’ imprisonment and a four year disqualification for the refusal to provide a sample – all sentences to run concurrently – whether sentence was excessive and disproportionate in all circumstances – whether disqualification of ten years was wrong in principle – whether disqualification or alternatively its length was wrong in principle in that it was disproportionate given the penalty imposed by way of custodial sentence – whether sentencing judge did not give sufficient weight to mitigation – gravity is assessed with reference to culpability and harm done – appellant’s culpability is significant – victim impact statement is testament of this – judge did not err in his identification of the notional and pre-mitigation sentence – judge was fully entitled to impose a period of disqualification in excess of the mandatory 4 years but the period of 10 years is disproportionate – disqualification reduced to 7 years.