The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a man against his conviction for his role in the robbery and shooting of well known Dublin publican and co-owner of Sunderland FC, Charlie Chawke.
However, Larry Cummins will spend 2½ years less time in jail after the appeal court agreed to back-date his 15 year sentence to 2003, when he was first remanded in custody in connection with the incident.
Cummins (57), Mellowes Road, Finglas, Dublin, was jailed for 15 years, to run from last July, for causing serious harm to Mr Chawke, robbery of €48,652 in cash and cheques and having a shotgun with intent to commit robbery and to resist arrest outside the Goat Grill pub, Goatstown, on October 6th, 2003. The last two years of the sentence were suspended because Cummins will be almost 70 by the time he is released and for health reasons.
Yesterday, the three judge court rejected Cummins's appeal against the 15 year conviction. However, it agreed with a defence application to back-date Cummins' sentence to October 2003, when he first went into custody for the offences.
Earlier, Brendan Nix SC, for Cummins, said the appeal was being brought on a number of grounds, including that it was not put to the jury that Cummins was trying to avoid arrest, and no longer involved in a joint enterprise when approached by gardaí who happened to be passing by at the time of the robbery.
Counsel for the DPP Paddy McCarthy SC said that this was a "well planned robbery," and there was clear evidence that Cummins and another person went to the location with the purpose of robbing Mr Chawke.
Cummins had remained in the car with a single barrelled sawn-off shotgun, while his accomplice approached the businessman.
Dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Nial Fennelly said that while it was accepted another person had fired the shot that caused Mr Chawke to have his leg amputated, there was "overwhelming evidence" that Cummins was part of a joint enterprise.
Cummins's argument that he had withdrawn from the joint enterprise was "without merit", the judge said. The court, he added, accepted that while he did not discharge his gun, Cummins had pointed it at gardaí.