A.M.’s sentence for indecent assault reduced on appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal reduced A.M.’s sentence for five counts of indecent assault from nine years to eight years on 14 September 2020. The final 12 months were suspended under both sentences, reducing the custodial term from eight years to seven.

A.M. pleaded guilty to the five counts at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. On 11 November 2019, that court imposed the original nine-year sentence, with its final year suspended on terms.

The offences took place at the family home between 1 April 1985 and 31 December 1986, when his daughter was aged between nine and 10. Two counts concerned touching her vagina, two concerned digital penetration and one concerned forcing her to touch his penis.

A.M. appealed against sentence, arguing among other things that he had not been afforded an opportunity to make a plea in mitigation and that the overall sentence was excessive under the totality principle.

The Court of Appeal found the sentence somewhat disproportionate under that principle. In the judgment delivered by Ms. Justice Isobel Kennedy, it reduced the sentences on Counts 6 and 8 by six months each, leaving the other individual sentences unchanged. Count 8 remained consecutive to Count 6.

The appeal was allowed. The final year was suspended on the same terms as in the Circuit Court, and the bond was to be entered before the prison governor or assistant governor.