Drogheda home invader has prison sentence reduced

Eoin Reynolds

The Court of Appeal has reduced the prison sentence handed down to a criminal who was on bail for a 'spree' of offences when he burgled a house, stole a car and dragged its owner along the ground while the victim tried to hold onto the door handle.

The three-judge court found that the sentencing judge had erred when he set the headline sentence for Mihail Stingu (34) at 14 years in prison, the maximum sentence available for the burglary charge.

Judge Paul Burns, delivering judgment following an appeal today, imposed a global sentence of 10 years and nine months in prison with the last six months suspended. Judge Dara Hayes at the Circuit Court had previously imposed a post-mitigation sentence of 13 years with the final six months suspended.

The court heard that Stingu, of no fixed abode, entered a home at Harmony Heights in Drogheda on May 7, 2024. Steven Dixon, for the State, told Tuesday's hearing that the female occupant of the house awoke in the middle of the night to see Stingu in her bedroom. She called out to her husband, and Stingu ran out of the house after taking a number of items.

Stingu got into the homeowners' car and drove off while the victim held onto the door handle. He was dragged for 10 metres and suffered serious road rash burns to his body, Mr Dixon said. While counsel accepted the harm done wasn't at the most serious level, he said it was "only luck that this man didn't suffer life-changing injuries".

Stingu pleaded guilty to burglary, endangerment and the unauthorised use of a car arising from the home invasion.

Dixon told the court that Stingu was at that time on bail for nine criminal damage offences committed during a 'spree' at various locations in Dundalk in February of the previous year. He was also disqualified from driving.

At Tuesday's hearing, James McGowan, for Stingu, argued that the sentencing judge had erred in setting the headline sentence for the burglary at 14 years before considering mitigating factors. He said the headline was disproportionate given the level of injury suffered by the homeowner.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Burns said the aggravating factors in the case were that Stingu entered an occupied home at night and confronted the people living there before taking their car. He has previous convictions for similar offending and was on bail at the time, the judge said.

The homeowner suffered significant injuries, and the sentencing judge was correct to put the offending at the higher end, the judge said. However, Judge Burns said the offence was not at the "most extreme end". He said it warranted a headline sentence of 11 years, as opposed to the 14 years set by Judge Hayes.

Burns sentenced Stingu to four years and nine months for the criminal damage offences and six years for the burglary. The sentences are to run consecutively, giving a total sentence of 10 years and nine months. He suspended the final six months on condition Stingu be of good behaviour for one year after his release.