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Man jailed for child porn possession appeals sentence
Summary
In December 2013 the Court of Criminal Appeal reserved judgment on the appeal of Bryan O'Byrne, a 33‑year‑old from South Dublin, who had been sentenced to three years' imprisonment by Judge Patricia Ryan for possessing thousands of child‑pornography images. O'Byrne had pleaded guilty in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in December 2008 and had admitted early to the offence. The appeal argued that the sentencing court erred by not giving full credit for mitigating factors such as his guilty plea, early admission, lack of prior convictions, the fact the images were not shared, and that he had not purchased the material. Counsel also cited O'Byrne's serious medical history, including brain surgery in 2003 and ongoing treatment, and alleged procedural errors, including a miscount of the number of images considered. The State's counsel maintained that the offence was at the very high end of the scale, citing the search terms used.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Man jailed for child porn possession appeals sentence. Charges or matters: the possession of child pornography images at his home on December 9, 2008. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- May 2012 Incident
- December 9, 2008 Incident
- 2013-12-02 Publication
Why: Counsel argued that because of this, Judge Ryan could not have given sufficient credit for the other mitigating factors in the case, which included the fact the images were not shared and the fact O'Byrne did not buy the material. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: the possession of child pornography images at his home on December 9, 2008 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Bryan O'Byrne (33), with last addresses in Sandymount and Stepaside, was jailed for three years by Judge Patricia Ryan for the possession of child pornography. He said the trial judge also appeared to have sentenced on the basis of 15,000 images and files, rather than the evidence before the court of 3,200 files.
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