Courts / Clare / Report
Former hurling coach returned to jail over indecent assaults following successful DPP appeal
Summary
In February 2015 the Court of Appeal ordered the return of 71‑year‑old former hurling coach James Maher to prison after finding his original two‑year sentence for indecently assaulting two boys between 1982 and 1985 too lenient. Maher had pleaded guilty to 18 counts and received a concurrent two‑year term on each count in 2013. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed, arguing the sentence was unduly light. The Court of Appeal agreed, increasing the sentence by one year and ruling that the maximum penalty for indecent assault on a male in the 1980s was two years, not ten as the DPP had suggested. The court noted that the 1981 legislative change had equalised the maximum penalty for males and females, and that a 2007 judgment had limited the penalty for males to that for females. The decision was delivered by Mr Justice Seán Ryan, with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice John Edwards.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Former hurling coach returned to jail over indecent assaults following successful DPP appeal. Charges or matters: 18 sample counts of indecently assaulting two boys in the county between January 1982 and April 1985. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- January 1982 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 1985 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 14, 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
- 1935 until 1981 Incident
- 2015-02-10 Publication
Why: Ms Justice Laffoy had held that different penalty provisions were unconstitutional because one cannot explain why there was a greater penalty for an offence committed against a male as opposed to a female as had been the case prior to 1981. CNI source report
Case subjects
Appellant
Charges: 18 sample counts of indecently assaulting two boys in the county between January 1982 and April 1985 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: He was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each count to run concurrently by Judge Carroll Moran at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on January 14, 2013. He said Maher had served the sentence that was originally imposed on him and he now faced a return to prison.
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