Three-time All-Ireland winning Limerick hurler Pat Ryan has appealed a jail sentence imposed on him today after he pleaded guilty to committing perjury.
At Limerick District Court, Judge Patricia Harney said Ryan, 27, from Doon, Co Limerick, had told a "brazen lie" when he previously gave evidence before the court on 21 October, 2020,
On that occasion he said that he had not received a fixed charge penalty notice after a garda had allegedly detected him exceeding the speed limit in 2018.
Judge Harney heard that after Ryan told the 2020 hearing that he had not received notification of the alleged speeding offence, gardaí later discovered Ryan had sent an image of the speeding notice from his mobile phone to a "third party".
Garda Darren John Swan, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI), told today's hearing that he arrested Ryan at 9.26am at Mayorstone Garda Station, Limerick.
Garda Swan said Ryan did not reply when he charged him at 9.44am.
The GNBCI officer said Ryan was arrested on 10 March, 2021 on suspicion of committing perjury during the 2020 court hearing.
Garda Swan told Judge Harney that the Director of Public Prosecutions "recommended it be dealt with by summary disposal" before the district court.
Garda Swan said Ryan had one previous conviction, on 27 June, 2022, for "holding a mobile phone whilst driving".
Judge Harney told Ryan’s defence solicitor Con Barry: "This is pretty serious stuff, he’s not getting away with it."
Mr Barry said Ryan had "put his hands up" and had "fully cooperated" with the GNBCI. Judge Harney replied: "It’s the least he could do."
"He got caught; he expected not to get caught, and now he is in serious trouble, he is facing a jail sentence," the judge added.
Mr Barry appealed again for leniency, to which the judge retorted: "Talk to me about truth, about veracity ... this goes to the core of the entire administration of justice."
Gardaí told Judge Harney that the maximum sentence she could impose was six months in prison and or a fine of up to €5,000.
Appealing to the judge not to jail Ryan, Mr Barry said: "This will affect him throughout his life, his ability to travel (abroad), it will have a tremendous effect on him for years."
Judge Harney said she was "not satisfied that a fine was the way to deal with it".
Imposing a two-week jail sentence on Ryan, the judge said the "brazen nature" of his evidence in 2020 "cuts to the heart of the criminal justice system".
Mr Barry immediately appealed the sentence and Judge Harney remanded Ryan on bail, on his own bond of €100, which did not have to be lodged.
"If another court takes a different view, so be it, but it is far too serious," Judge Harney said.
No date was given for his appeal.
