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Scout leader jailed for abusing boys calls on gardai to find rest of his 'many victims'
Summary
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by David O'Brien, a former scout leader, against the severity of his sentence. In 2018, O'Brien was convicted of indecent assault on four boys and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, with 16 months suspended on condition of Probation Service supervision. This followed a 2015 conviction for abusing six other boys, resulting in a combined total of 14 years' imprisonment with three years suspended. O'Brien's counsel argued that the cumulative sentence was excessive given the offences occurred in the same period and that O'Brien had previously admitted to abusing 30 to 40 boys. However, the three-judge panel, presided over by Mr Justice Edwards, found no error in principle, noting that the sentencing judge had conscientiously considered the aggravating factor of a serious breach of trust by a person in authority. The court stated that a net sentence of 11 years could easily have been justified. During the hearing, O'Brien called on gardai to identify his remaining victims so he could address them under the Criminal Justice Act, though the court noted this was not a matter for the appeal. The appeal was rejected, leaving the original 2018 sentence intact.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Scout leader jailed for abusing boys calls on gardai to find rest of his 'many victims'. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- 2021-02-02 Publication
Case subjects
Appellant
Outcome: A former scout leader who has been jailed for abusing ten boys has called on gardai to find the rest of his "many victims" so that he can "put an end to all of this". The court had earlier heard an appeal by O'Brien against the severity of the eight-year sentence with 16 months suspended imposed on him in 2018.
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