Pearse McAuley to serve two more years in jail for vicious attack on wife
One of Detective Jerry McCabe’s killers will have to spend an extra two years in prison for a vicious two-and-a-half hour attack on his wife.
The Court of Appeal set aside Pearse McAuley’s original sentence after agreeing with the DPP that the suspended portion was “excessive”.
In the original trial and after taking McAuley’s guilty pleas and remorse into account, Judge Aylmer handed down a 12-year sentence with the final four years suspended.
That was today ruled to be unduly lenient by the Court of Appeal – the suspension was deemed excessive.
A sentence of 12 years with just the final two suspended was handed down in its place.
The Court of Appeal has decided that the sentence handed down to Pearse McAuley for attacking his wife in front of their children was "unduly lenient".
The 51-year-old, who played a role in the killing of Detective Jerry McCabe, was jailed for eight years for beating and stabbing her in her Cavan home.
On June 7, 1996, Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was shot dead outside a post office in Adare, Co. Limerick.
Pearse McAuley was jailed for 14 years for his part, but released early as part of the peace process.
In 2003, he was allowed out on temporary release to marry Pauline Tully. They were separated and living apart on Christmas Eve 2014 when he beat her and stabbed her 13 times.
Today, the DPP appealed what she considered to be the undue leniency of the 12-year sentence handed down.
She felt the suspension of the final four years was excessive and the judges agreed.
President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice Sean Ryan said the sentencing judge gave too much weight to the mitigating factors.
He went on to say the fact it happened in the presence of their children added an “extra dimension of brutality and horror”.
The court will now have to decide on a more appropriate sentence.
