Courts / Tipperary / Report
Rapist foster father has sentence cut after comments on sentence remission
Summary
A man convicted of rape and sexual assault has had his sentence reduced by eighteen months following a Court of Appeal finding that the trial judge may have imposed a longer sentence than warranted due to comments about remission. The Court of Appeal quashed the twelve-year sentence imposed on Richard Moloney and re-sentenced him to ten-and-a-half years imprisonment. The appeal court found that remarks by the sentencing judge at Dublin's Central Criminal Court in November 2019 suggested he was taking potential early release into account when determining the headline sentence, which departed from standard sentencing practice. Moloney was convicted in July 2019 of rape, oral rape, and sexual assault against his foster daughter in July 2016. He was acquitted of a further charge of anal rape. The court rejected Moloney's appeal against conviction, finding no error in the trial judge's jury instructions.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Rapist foster father has sentence cut after comments on sentence remission. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- July 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- July 16, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- November 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2020-10-19 Publication
Why: He said that this may have given rise to an understanding that a sentence was being imposed which was longer than may otherwise have been the case because of an expectation that the appellant would eventually benefit from remission or early release. CNI source report
Case subjects
Applicant
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; Moloney was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in jail for the offences at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in November 2019. Separately, Moloney's lawyers also appealed the severity of the 12-year sentence imposed on their client, claiming the headline sentence of 14 years set by the judge was excessive.
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