2022-11-28 · Roscommon
'Sick sex abuser' has jail sentence reduced by two years
The Court of Appeal has reduced the prison sentence of Christopher Ashmore, a 76-year-old man convicted of sexually assaulting his partner's daughter in the late 1990s. Ashmore, of Co Roscommon, had pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault, including two charges of oral rape, committed in Dublin between January 1998 and December 1999. A Central Criminal Court jury found him guilty on four counts in June 2021. Originally, Ms Justice Carmel Stewart sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment for the two oral rape charges, with the final 12 months suspended, and three years for the two sexual assault charges, to run concurrently. In this appeal, Mr Justice John Edwards dismissed the challenge to the conviction but quashed the original sentence for the rape convictions, citing Ashmore's age and the prospect he might die in prison. In re-sentencing, Mr Justice Edwards fixed a headline sentence of 12 years but discounted three years in mitigation and suspended the final two years. Consequently, Ashmore is to serve nine years' imprisonment with the final two years suspended. The victim, who waived anonymity, described Ashmore as a "sick sexual abuser" who left her a "broken child." The court noted the offending was heinous and persistent, but adjusted the effective custody period based on mitigating factors.