Kildare man's immediate jail term halved on appeal

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

The Court of Appeal halved a Kildare man's immediate jail term from two years to one year on 7 July 2017. It imposed 18 months' imprisonment, with the final six months suspended for 12 months. He was required to enter a good behaviour bond for the suspended period and undertook to do so. The proceedings were reported on 7 July 2017.

He had pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and to oral rape. The sexual assaults occurred in a shed at his Co. Kildare home in October and December 2008. The oral rapes occurred at his home in April 2009 and in nearby woodland in May 2009. He was 15 and the girl was 11.

At the Central Criminal Court on 28 November 2016, Mr Justice Tony Hunt imposed four years' imprisonment with the final two years suspended.

Mr Justice Alan Mahon, sitting with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Hedigan, said the original sentence insufficiently reflected the offender's youth and immaturity. The court accepted an eight-year starting point before age was considered, but reduced the age-adjusted headline from four years to two years and six months. His admissions, co-operation with gardaí, early guilty plea and previous good behaviour brought the sentence down further.

Hugh Hartnett SC argued that he should have been sentenced as a 15-year-old, with custody a last resort. The appeal judge said the concerns underlying that approach did not apply in the same way to a child offender sentenced as an adult.

The report said the man described his conduct to gardaí as “experimental” and expressed remorse. Mr Justice Alan Mahon said the repeated, determined and calculated offending could not reasonably be described as merely experimental. Its impact on the victim remained considerable. The man had no previous convictions, and the sentencing judge considered there was no risk of reoffending.