National: Man who choked, punched and drove over former partner fails to get sentence reduced

The Court of Appeal has refused to reduce a four-year sentence handed down to a man for the “brutal” treatment of his former partner during which she was choked, punched, bitten and driven over.

In January 2023, Samy Taib (22) with addresses at Drumcairn Avenue, Tallaght, Dublin 24 and Meile An Rí Road, Balgaddy, Lucan, Co Dublin, was jailed after he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm at addresses in Dublin and one count relating to a campaign of coercive control over his then partner on dates between May 9, 2018, and June 19, 2019.

Taib also pleaded guilty to endangerment, driving without a licence and insurance at Fettercairn Ring Road, Tallaght and dangerous driving causing endangerment at Main Street, Celbridge, Co Kildare, in separate incidents on October 13, 2019. 

At the time of his sentencing, he had 22 previous convictions, mainly for road traffic offences.

Taib was jailed and given a total sentence of five years’ imprisonment with the final 12 months suspended for two years.

He had appealed the severity of the sentence imposed, arguing that the reduction given did not represent a sufficient discount for his mental disorder.

During an earlier appeal hearing, Taib’s barrister Brian Gageby submitted that the sentencing judge should have given Taib a greater discount than the amount granted due to his client’s "undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia". Taib, without medication, suffered from “severe thought disorder, persistent delusions and paranoia”, he said.

Mr Gageby said Taib had shown “disgust at his partner’s sexual history”, became jealous of her male friends, had been watching “a lot of pornography” and had been smoking cannabis all while being a “vulnerable” person unaware of his condition.

Taib believed that work colleagues could hear his thoughts and that animals responded to them.

Imposing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Elma Sheahan said it was clear that Taib’s former partner had “endured great upset and trauma from the assaults and psychological injury” caused by his offending during their relationship. 

Referring to the road traffic offences, the judge said it was “almost miraculous” that no other road user ended up seriously injured due to his actions on the day.

Judge Sheahan said that Taib's culpability was reduced owing to his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia in the wake of the incidents. Medical reports indicated a history of psychological issues as a younger teenager, the court heard.

Dismissing the appeal, Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh said the sentencing judge in the circuit court had been “very careful and considerate” in the manner in which she assessed the information before her.

The judge said that while the expert reports indicated that Taib’s mental disorder was likely to have been “brewing” for some time, “one cannot lose sight of the very serious offending in this case”.

In a written judgement, she said the reports did not engage any more precisely with the extent of the “casual link” between his likely psychological state at the time and what could only be described as his “brutal” treatment of the injured party.

Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh said the assaults included incidents of choking, punching, dragging by the hair, biting the injured party’s lip and driving over her leg followed by kicking it.

The emotional and psychological impact on the injured party was severe, she added.

The judge said the sum total of imprisonment was ultimately five years with one suspended. She said given the nature and extent of the offending, the court could not conclude that this was unduly severe and accordingly dismissed the appeal.