R v Sinead Cahill

Facts

The appellant, Sinead Cahill, was a neighbour of the complainant, who invited her back to her flat late at night on 5 April 2024. The appellant, already intoxicated through alcohol and, on her account, having taken cocaine offered by the complainant, argued with a male friend of the complainant over that man's past behaviour towards her late father. When the complainant asked her to leave, the appellant became very angry and attacked her in the hallway, biting and latching on to her right eye for a significant period while the complainant's six-year-old daughter screamed at her to let go. The appellant left, then returned with the child while the complainant was on a 999 call, and resumed the attack by jumping on, biting and hitting her; the police arrested her at the scene. The complainant sustained a 2 centimetre wound to the eyelid requiring stitches and apparently permanent scarring, concussion, a 3 centimetre laceration to the head and a bite mark to the hip. In the Crown Court at Bristol the appellant pleaded guilty on 8 April 2026 to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and on 29 May 2026 Mr Recorder David Chidgey sentenced her to three years and nine months' imprisonment. Her application for leave to appeal against sentence was referred to the Full Court by the Registrar.