'Evil' abuser who defiled teenage girls and plied them with heroin is spared more jail time

A 36-year-old man from County Mayo convicted of serious sexual offences against two teenage girls has had his prison sentence upheld on appeal. The man, who was 28 when the abuse began, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of defilement, having engaged in an abusive relationship with a 14-year-old girl and subsequently with her friend. He introduced both girls to heroin and used compromising photographs to control the first complainant. The man was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment with the final two years suspended in May 2019. The Director of Public Prosecutions sought review on grounds the sentence was unduly lenient. The Court of Appeal, while acknowledging the sentence was "very lenient", declined to intervene. The court found that although the case involved exceptionally serious offending, the sentencing judge was entitled to considerable discretion given the singular nature of the case and limited comparators. The appeal was dismissed.