An armed robber who claimed he was acting under duress when he raided a village shop has had his five-year sentence overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Peter Sheeran, 33, of Carraig Mor, Kilcoole, County Wicklow left two children – a two-year-old and a seven-year-old – in a car while he carried out the robbery in the village of Kilanerin on the Wicklow/Wexford border on 17 June 2023.

Armed with a bread knife, he took €1,000 from the till in the Murphy’s Gala store, only to be caught and detained by passers-by near the crime scene shortly afterwards.

He pleaded guilty to robbery at Wexford Circuit Court in December 2023, when Judge Cormac Quinn imposed a five-year sentence, with the final year suspended.

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Appealing against the severity of the sentence on Monday, Sheeran’s barrister, Brian Mulvany BL, argued that mitigating factors, such as the appellant having no previous convictions, that he was acting under duress at the time of the robbery and that the offense was not premeditated, were not sufficiently taken into account into consideration.

Sinead Gleeson BL, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, contested that the planning was minimal. She also claimed that the knife used by Sheeran was more “the mockup side of things than a bread knife – not a samurai sword, but more than a bread knife”.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy noted that this was a serious offense and said the court had taken into account the aggravating factors in the case, one woman had given up work because of the psychological effects of the robbery and another was worried about the health of her unborn child . .

While Mr Justice McCarthy accepted that the appellant was acting under duress, he held that there was premeditation in that the appellant had driven to the scene, armed himself with a knife and cut holes in a beanie hat as a form of of disguise.

Delivering the court’s judgment, Mr Justice John Edwards further noted that aggravating factors in the case included the fact that the appellant had left two children in the car and frightened people while armed.

Although Sheeran pleaded guilty, being caught in the act didn’t give him much of a choice, the judge noted.

Mr Justice Edwards, however, held that, having regard to the mitigating factors, the sentence was disproportionate and excessive and that a lesser sentence may be more appropriate, particularly as the appellant has no previous convictions.

He noted that the appellant had sought to address his addiction issues and on that basis the court ordered a urinalysis to ensure that he had addressed his addiction issues.

Mr Justice Edwards said the court would quash Sheeran’s sentence, with the appellant to remain in custody in Castlerea Prison pending a retrial on Monday 16 December.