Court of Appeal replaces suspended sentence with three years in prison

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal sentenced a man to three years in prison after finding his wholly suspended seven-year sentence for raping and indecently assaulting his wife’s teenage sister was unduly lenient. He had been convicted by a jury after pleading not guilty to two rape counts and two indecent assault counts relating to 1985 and 1986. The court dismissed his appeal against conviction and upheld the Director of Public Prosecutions’ sentence appeal.

The court said the original sentencing judge was wrong to treat the man’s conduct as rehabilitation without acceptance of guilt, and that the starting point should have been at least 10 years. It reduced the term to five years for mitigating circumstances, then to three years in the circumstances of the case. He was taken from court to begin serving the sentence.