Four people who were sentenced to jail for falsely imprisoning a glazier in the mistaken belief that he was a con man had their sentences reduced to just over a week yesterday.
The three-judge Court of Criminal Appeal said the four had totally co-operated with the gardaí and accepted responsibility. The offence was also at the lower scale of false imprisonment, it said.
All four had secured bail in early February in the Court of Criminal Appeal only days after they had been sentenced in the Circuit Criminal Court.
Jason Ward (34), Clanmolier Court, Portarlington, Co Laois, and Matthew Kearns (20), Palmerstown Woods, Clondalkin, Dublin, were each jailed for two years, while Celia Jones (19), Foxdene Gardens, Clondalkin, and Denise Collins (21), Neilstown Gardens, Clondalkin, were both jailed for one year.
All four yesterday also appealed against the severity of sentence imposed on them. After considering the appeals, the court imposed a reduced sentence of 10 days on the two men and nine days on the two women. All four had already served that period of time in custody before securing bail last February, so they will not serve any additional time.
They had pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning a glazier on March 9th, 2004, at Foxdene Gardens.
The court had heard that Denise Collins had paid a €300 deposit for PVC replacement windows but then decided not to get the work done.
When the businessman involved called to Ms Jones's house on another job, he was held hostage for several hours by five people, including the four accused.
The court was told that the defendants mistakenly believed their victim was a "con man" after local media reports.
However, it was accepted by the court that the incident arose out of a genuine but mistaken belief that the victim was a con man.