A man who murdered his wife with a samurai sword has had his life sentence backdated by three years.
The sentencing judge had refused to backdate William Eagers' sentence to the date he entered custody, as she considered the distress caused to the victim's family and the "very late" guilty plea as aggravating factors.
However, at the Court of Appeal today, Mr Justice George Birmingham said that, in recognition of his guilty plea, Eagers, aged 63, was entitled to have his life sentence backdated to take into account the three years he spent in custody before he was jailed.
Eagers pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife of 34 years, Jean Eagers, in their home at Willow Wood Grove in Clonsilla, north Dublin, on 21 June, 2020.
Mother-of-two Ms Eagers, who was aged 57, died of her wounds at the house. A family member raised the alarm and the Garda Armed Support Unit forced entry to the house following a stand-off with Eagers and found Ms Eagers on the ground with serious injuries.
Medical personnel found Ms Eagers in the sitting room, but she was unresponsive and had no pulse. They recorded 16 stab wounds to her body and attempted CPR but were unsuccessful.
At the trial in the Central Criminal Court in March, Eagers entered a plea of guilty, but Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring noted the plea was entered on 10 March, 2023, 10 days before his trial was due to take place.
She did not backdate his life sentence and said it would commence from 10 March. The court heard that the defendant has been in custody since 21 June, 2020, the day of the murder.
Ms Justice Ring said: "I note the family's victim impact statements and the distress that the past three years has caused to them. This matter was resolved at a very, very late stage in the proceedings. The court is aware this is an aggravating element for victims and families in cases such as this. I won't give him credit for time spent in custody for the past three years."
"He will commence his sentence from the date of his plea on 10 March," she said.
At the court of appeal today, Sean Guerin SC, for Eagers, said that while there had been a "lateness" of entering a plea, a guilty plea was "always a mitigating factor" and that should have been taken into account by the trial judge.
Mr Guerin said his client was now 63 years old, meaning that Eagers would have been eligible for parole consideration at 75 had the sentence been backdated.
Counsel said the failure to do so meant that there was a "real consequence" for his client, who would now have to wait until he was 78 for parole consideration.
In adjusting the sentence to 21 June, 2020, Mr Justice Birmingham said that there had been a "departure from the norm" in the court below in not backdating the sentence.
Mr Justice Birmingham said it had been an "extraordinarily serious and tragic case for everyone involved".
He said that the accused "always receives some credit in plea" and there was an expectation that mitigation would be taken into account on the sentence imposed.
