A young man who produced an unopened Stanley Blade while trying to “act as a peacekeeper” in a fight on a Centra shop floor has had his six-month jail sentence overturned on appeal.
The District Court Appeals Court heard that Luke McKee (23), who completed his Leaving Certificate while living in a homeless hostel and is due to complete an apprenticeship, had the blade with him as part of his work.
McKee, with an address at St Catherine’s Foyer, Marrowbone Lane, Dublin 8 pleaded guilty in the District Court to producing a knife contrary to section 11 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.
He received a sentence of nine months in custody with three months suspended.
Garda Cian O’Longaigh told the District Court Appeals Court today that McKee was one of three men who entered a Centra shop on Wicklow Street, Dublin 2 on December 1, 2022.
McKee proceeded to buy a roll from the deli and leave the store. After he left, one of the other men got into a physical altercation with a shop assistant.
Garda O’Longaigh said that McKee then reentered the shop in an attempt to break up the fight, getting between the two men. The shop assistant and McKee then got into an altercation, the witness said.
McKee then briefly produced a Stanley knife, which was later identified on CCTV.
Defence counsel for McKee, Daniel O’Connell BL, said that McKee got between the two men to stop the fight from escalating and “effectively got caught in the crossfire”.
He said that McKee was backing out of the shop with the injured party pursuing him when the Stanley blade was produced. He said that he did not spring the retractable blade or wave it in front of the other man.
Mr O’Connell said that McKee had the blade in his possession for lawful purposes as a construction worker and had made no threat to use the knife against anyone.
He said that the incident only lasted 30 seconds and the injured party only realised a knife had been produced when it was identified later on CCTV.
Mr O’Connell said McKee had an overreaction from fear of an altercation which was a learned response from his experience of living in homeless hostels.
He said that McKee, who was 19 years old at the time, was discharged from work and let go from his accommodation, effectively making him homeless, as a result of the offence.
He said that McKee is an orphan who completed his Leaving Certificate while living in a homeless hostel and is due to complete an apprenticeship in the coming months. He said that the consequences of a custodial sentence would be “overly punitive”.
Judge Fiona O’Sullivan decided to fully suspend the nine-month sentence over a period of 18 months, on the condition that McKee maintains good behaviour and completes an anger management course. A sum of 300 euro has already been paid to the injured party.
Judge O’Sullivan said that she took into account that McKee became involved to “act as a peacemaker”, the incident appeared to be a “once off” and that references from his employer were “simply excellent”.