Strokestown eviction vigilante fails in appeal against 15-year sentence

PJ Sweeney of Ramelton, County Donegal has lost an appeal against his 15-year prison sentence imposed for his role in a vigilante attack on security workers at a repossessed farmhouse near Strokestown, County Roscommon in December 2018. The Court of Appeal found no error in principle in the original sentence. Sweeney, aged 59, was convicted in June 2023 of 15 charges including aggravated burglary, violent disorder and false imprisonment. His legal team argued the sentence was excessive and that mitigating factors, including his age, good character and lack of previous convictions, were insufficiently considered. However, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy stated the trial judge was entitled to impose a sentence without a suspended element, noting an absence of insight, remorse or apology from Sweeney. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, upholding the severity of the sentence for what was described as a brutal and savage attack designed to inflict fear and terror.