Darragh Meehan sentence cut for child defilement appeal

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

Darragh Meehan had his sentence for defilement and sexual exploitation cut by the Court of Appeal on 13 May 2019, from six-and-a-half years to five years, with the final year suspended. The suspension was conditional on his submitting to Probation Service supervision for one year after release.

Meehan pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of defilement and three counts of sexual exploitation involving a 13-year-old girl. The offences occurred between December 2011 and May 2012. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced him to six-and-a-half years in March 2018.

Giving the appeal judgment, Ms Justice Marie Baker said the original nine-year headline sentence placed the offending in the high range when it should have been in the mid-range. She said the correct headline sentence was seven-and-a-half years. It was reduced to five years to take account of Meehan’s previous good character and the fact that he had not come to adverse Garda attention during the delay before the case reached court.