James Maher given consecutive one-year sentence after leniency review

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

The Court of Appeal found James Maher’s concurrent two-year sentences for indecent assault unduly lenient in its judgment dated 10 February 2015. A later Supreme Court excerpt records that it replaced the sentence on one count with a consecutive one-year term running from the date of the appeal judgment.

Maher pleaded guilty on 14 February 2012 to five counts involving one injured party. He pleaded guilty on 10 July 2012 to fourteen further counts involving another injured party. The first group of offences occurred during 1984 in County Clare; the second occurred in the county between 1 January 1982 and 17 March 1984.

The sentencing hearing took place on 19 November 2012. The sentencing judge delivered judgment on 14 January 2013, imposing two years’ imprisonment on each of the 19 counts, all running concurrently.

The judge proceeded on the basis that two years was the maximum sentence for each offence, following information supplied by prosecution counsel. On review, the DPP’s counsel argued that the maximum was ten years. Maher’s counsel accepted that the prosecution was not bound by its earlier submission, but did not concede that ten years was the correct maximum.

The court identified repeated abuse, exploitation of vulnerable boys, grooming, deception and psychological damage as aggravating features. Mitigation included Maher’s early guilty pleas, insight into the harm caused, the lengthy passage of time without reoffending and the absence of other relevant convictions.

The later excerpt also records that the DPP disagreed with the determination on the maximum penalty and obtained leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.