The Court of Appeal has upheld the six-and-a-half-year jail term handed down to a Dublin rioter who set a garda car alight and damaged a migrant centre during “one of the gravest examples of public disorder in the history of the State”.Declan Donaghey had argued there was a risk he was “being made an example of” by the sentencing judge. The State had countered that the arson of the garda car had “changed the nature of the riot itself”.In dismissing his appeal against the severity of his sentence on Tuesday, however, Judge Nuala Butler said Donaghey’s actions were part of a targeted attack on An Garda Síochána when they were attempting to investigate a serious criminal offence that had taken place earlier that day.The appeal court also heard how a garda who became trapped in a different van could see that the patrol car had been set alight and could hear people shouting “burn him out”.Donaghey (30), of Williams Place Upper, Dorset Street, Dublin, had pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to arson, violent disorder and criminal damage on November 23rd, 2023.The sentencing court was told Donaghey said he was “not a racist”, but he had a close relation in the school on Cavendish Row where a number of children and a care assistant were attacked by a knife-wielding man earlier on the day of the riots.The court heard it was in fact a child of Donaghey’s partner’s cousin, who was uninjured, that attended the school.CCTV showed the defendant putting a burning box into the back of a garda car and then wiping the door handle. The vehicle, which was valued at €20,000, was destroyed. Donaghey damaged a second garda car by jumping on the bonnet and kicking the windows and wing mirror. A wheelie bin was also thrown at one of the garda cars.The footage, which was viewed by the three-judge court on Tuesday, also showed Donaghey throwing a bicycle saddle at a building housing international protection applicants.[ Man who raped woman he was in relationship with jailed for four yearsOpens in new window ]Det Insp Kenneth Hoare told Donaghey’s sentencing hearing how a garda became isolated during the riots involving dozens of people and sought refuge in a garda van parked behind two patrol cars on Parnell Street. “He was clearly isolated and they had set their mind to getting to him in the van,” he said.The van was set upon and the windscreen was damaged, with some pieces of glass going into the garda’s eye, the Court of Appeal heard.The officer could see the other vehicle had been set ablaze and could hear people shouting “burn him out”.The Public Order Unit eventually managed to reach the garda and get him to safety.In November 2024, Judge Orla Crowe sentenced Donaghey to seven-and-a-half years with the final year suspended on the arson charge to incentivise rehabilitation. She imposed concurrent sentences of four-and-a-half and three years respectively for the violent disorder and criminal damage charges.Donaghey appealed the severity of the sentence handed down, arguing the 10-year headline sentence set by the judge for the arson offence was too high and not enough regard had been given to the mitigating factors in his case.[ Man apologises to his family for murdering his mother in Cavan homeOpens in new window ]Delivering judgment, Butler noted the sentencing judge was “clearly not impressed” that Donaghey said he acted the way he did because he had a close relation in the school. Butler said the connection was, in fact, “quite tenuous”, adding that an argument of this nature could never justify the behaviour that evening and the sentencing judge was quite right to reject it.While not minimising the effect of the events earlier that day on the local community, she said it could never be an appropriate response to “gather en mass” and attack gardaí in the course of their duties. Butler said Donaghey, in setting a garda car alight, was responsible for the first act of arson that evening, noting a bus and a tram were later burned.She said gardaí have a difficult job and shouldn’t have to fear for their safety while carrying out their duties, particularly when tensions are high.“As the sentencing judge rightly remarked: ‘An attack on gardaí is an attack on society,’” Butler said.The sentencing judge did not err in fixing a headline sentence of 10 years, the judge said.While the incident was not pre-planned, neither was it entirely spontaneous, she said, noting that Donaghey returned to the scene with his face covered and actively took part in a number of violent acts.