Carlow man loses sexual assault sentence appeal

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

A Carlow man lost his appeal against the severity of his sentence at the Court of Appeal on 23 April 2018.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexually assaulting his niece on dates between 1994 and 1998. She was seven when the offending began and he was 25. His identity cannot be published to protect the victim.

On 26 July 2017, Judge Michael O’Shea imposed eight concurrent five-year sentences, suspending the last two years of each.

Giving judgment for the three-judge Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Alan Mahon said the net three-year custodial term was a very lenient outcome and did not represent an error in principle. The court dismissed the appeal.