A Cahersiveen man who served a sentence for fatally stabbing a man has been returned to jail after he attacked a woman three weeks after he’d been released.
In July 2019, 26-year-old Blake Sweeney of Fertha Drive in the town was convicted of the manslaughter of Robert Elston from Lisselton on May 23rd, 2018.
He had been sentenced to eight years and six months imprisonment with the last 18 months suspended, and backdated to May 23rd, 2018 when he went into custody.
The Central Criminal Court heard that Blake Sweeney from Cahersiveen had been arrested for assaulting a woman three weeks after he had been released from prison and had pleaded guilty to the offence.
The State applied for the activation of the suspended portion of his manslaughter sentence.
A garda told the court that a bench warrant had been issued for Blake Sweeney earlier this year after he failed to appear in court.
He was subsequently arrested and brought before Mr Justice Tony Hunt in August; he had been remanded in custody until his appearance in court yesterday.
Senior counsel for Blake Sweeney, Seamus Clarke suggested that the court might be minded to impose part of the suspended sentence and leave the other partly suspended. He said the defendant had been engaging well in custody and is off drugs.
Mr Justice Hunt said the defendant had been given an allowance to show he could do well in the community and had fallen short on every aspect, adding he had been convicted of a very serious offence.
The judge said the only thing that resonated with him was that the triggering offence was not at the top end of the scale.
He said he would backdate the activated 12 months to August 27th when Blake Sweeney went into custody.
Mr Justice Hunt said if Mr Sweeney was back before the courts for anything ‘other than the most trivial reason’ he would serve the final six months of the sentence.
