Courts

Teenager charged with murder asks High Court to halt trial until new law enacted

Accused argues that if convicted the sentencing judge will have no option other than to impose mandatory life sentence

Floral tributes on Main Street, Ongar, Dublin, where Aaron Keating was fatally stabbed in June 2023. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins
Aodhan O'Faolain
Mon Jul 15 2024 - 17:38

A teenager charged with murder has taken a High Court challenge aimed at halting his trial until laws protecting his rights have been enacted.

The action has been brought by 19-year-old John Mulrooney Sugrue, of Manorfield Green, Clonee, Dublin, who is charged with the murder of Aaron Keating on Main Street, Ongar, Dublin 15 on June 13th, 2023.

Mr Mulrooney Sugrue, whose case is pending before the Central Criminal Court, was a minor when the alleged offence is said to have occurred. Represented by Seamus Clarke SC, he argues that if he is convicted of murder the sentencing judge will have no option other than to impose the mandatory life sentence on him.

The judge would not be able to take into account that the alleged offence is said to have occurred when the applicant was a child, the court heard.

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The fact that a person in Mr Mulrooney Sugrue’s position would not be able to receive a determinate sentence or a review, it is claimed, amounts to a breach of his constitutional rights, and his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. The current legal situation has prejudiced the applicant and his lawyers’ ability to advise him, he alleges.

He submits that the 2019 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended states should abolish all forms of life imprisonment, including indeterminate sentences, for all offences committed by people who were under the age of 18 years at the time of the offence. It is claimed that this situation has come about due to a legal oversight, rather than through an intentional decision by the Oireachtas.

The applicant says it is vital the issues raised in this case are addressed before he is obliged to indicate a plea in respect of the charge he faces.

In his action against the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ireland and the Attorney General, Mr Mulrooney Sugrue seeks various orders and declarations including an order preventing his further prosecution until provision is made for sentencing powers that can reflect that he was a child at the time of the alleged offence. He also wants damages for an alleged breach of his constitutional rights.

He seeks declarations including that the part of the 2001 Children’s Act is under-inclusive as it fails to provide for the imposition of a determinate sentence or for a review of a life sentence for an accused who was a child at the time an offence of murder was committed.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is a notice party to the proceedings.

The matter came before Ms Justice Niamh Hyland on Monday who, on an ex parte basis, granted the applicant permission to bring his challenge. The matter and other related cases will be mentioned before the court later his month.

Two other judicial review actions raising similar legal points were brought earlier this month. They have been taken by Noah Musueni, of Corduff Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin, and David Amah, of Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate Dublin.

The 18-year-olds are both charged with the murder of Tristan Sherry at a Dublin restaurant last Christmas Eve. The two, who were minors at the time of the alleged offence, have been sent forward to trial before the Special Criminal Court.