Courts / Dublin / Report

Serial "sweet shop" child sex offender has life sentence reduced on appeal

Date
2016-10-27

Stage
Appeal

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

The Court of Appeal reduced the life sentence of a 40‑year‑old Dublin man, who had pleaded guilty to fourteen counts of sexual assault and defilement of an 11‑year‑old boy, to 15 years imprisonment. The man had previously been convicted of sexual offences and had avoided reporting a change of address to the sex offenders register. He had spent three years in a rehabilitation programme at Arbour Hill prison before sentencing. The Court held that his rehabilitation efforts moved the case out of the category for which a life sentence was appropriate. The Court also imposed 11‑year sentences for the sexual assault counts, to run concurrently from the original March 2014 date. The decision was based on the man's age, the duration of abuse, prior convictions and his rehabilitation work. The Court noted that the life sentence was a significant error in principle but still required a very significant sentence. The appeal was successful.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Serial "sweet shop" child sex offender has life sentence reduced on appeal. Charges or matters: fourteen sample counts of sexual assault and defilement of the boy when he was aged 11 at locations in Dublin between December 2008 and June 2009. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

December 2008 Incident
June 2009 Incident
July 7, 2014 Incident
March 2014 Incident
2008 and 2009 Other
2016-10-27 Publication

Case subjects

Unnamed 11-year-old

Appellant

Charges: fourteen sample counts of sexual assault and defilement of the boy when he was aged 11 at locations in Dublin between December 2008 and June 2009 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: He was sentenced to life imprisonment by Mr Justice Paul Carney on July 7, 2014. The man successfully appealed his sentence today with the Court of Appeal holding that his three-year effort to rehabilitate himself prior to being sentenced "moved the case out of that small category for which maximum sentences would be appropriate".