Mr Rooney was not trial counsel but was specifically asked to draft grounds of appeal and appear at the Court of Appeal Criminal Division, on behalf of a 17-year-old who after trial was sentenced to 24 years detention for an attempted murder.
Mr Rooney submitted that the sentencing Judge had not applied sufficient weight to the age, vulnerability and the mental development of the youth defendant, when considered within the sphere of the Sentencing Guidelines dealing with the sentencing of children and young people.
The focus of Mr Rooney’s submissions was that the sentencing judge having correctly identified the starting point as 25 years then uplifted it to reflect the aggravating features, before reducing it in accordance with the guidelines of a suggested 1/3rd . This meant the judge must have uplifted the sentence from 25 years to 36 years before reducing it by 1/3rd (12 years) resulting in a sentence of 24 years.
It was submitted such a sentence was manifestly excessive.
The Court agreed with Mr Rooney’s submissions and quashed the 24 years sentence replacing it with a sentence of 18 years detention.
Mr Rooney was instructed by Peter Hamill, Head of Crime at Meikles Solicitors.