Key Facts
- •February 2020: Violent incident at National Amateur Youth Boxing Championships involving O'Donnell/McDonagh and Doherty families.
- •September 2023: Appellant convicted of violent disorder after trial.
- •July 2024: Appellant sentenced to two years and eight months' imprisonment.
- •Appellant's defense: Attended to protect Brian McDonagh, used reasonable force in self-defense.
- •Prosecution's case: Appellant used unlawful violence against the Dohertys.
- •CCTV footage showed appellant throwing chairs, shouting, and directing others.
- •Incident lasted approximately nine minutes, resulting in injuries and significant damage.
- •Appellant had a previous conviction for fraud.
Legal Principles
Admissibility of bad character evidence of non-defendant.
Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 100(1) and (2)
Admissibility of evidence of good character for a defendant with a previous conviction.
Case law (unspecified, but discussed in the judgment)
Outcomes
Appeal against conviction on grounds 1 and 3 dismissed.
No arguable merit; evidence not crucial to understanding other evidence and did not have substantial probative value. Judge's question was neutral and did not cause unfair prejudice.
Appeal against conviction on ground 2 allowed (partially).
Judge wrongly excluded evidence of appellant's non-violent character from witnesses Blake and Cullum. However, the error did not render the conviction unsafe due to strong evidence against the appellant.
Appeal against sentence dismissed.
Judge's categorization of the offence and sentence were not manifestly excessive considering the appellant's involvement, the seriousness of the violence, and the aggravating factor of being on licence. Mitigation was considered, but the gravity of the offense outweighed it.