The Court of Appeal has resentenced Muhammad Hussain to three years in prison, with the final nine months suspended, for travelling to meet a child with the intention of inviting the child to engage in a sexual act.
Hussain was convicted after a ten-day Circuit Court jury trial in March 2014 of an offence under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. The offence occurred on 22 July 2011. He originally received a four-year custodial sentence, with credit for 13 weeks already spent in custody.
The Court of Appeal allowed his sentence appeal in February 2015, vacated that sentence and ordered reports before resentencing him.
At the fresh hearing, the court criticised a probation report for incorrectly stating that Hussain had been convicted of trafficking a child for sexual exploitation and that he had pleaded guilty. It also found the report's risk assessment unsatisfactory because it referred to violent recidivism even though no violence was involved in the offence.
The court relied instead on the facts established at trial and sentencing. It proceeded on the basis that Hussain had travelled intending to invite, rather than induce or coerce, the child to commit a sexual act. Taking the intended act into account, it placed the offence at the lower end of the sentencing spectrum, while emphasising that the offence was inherently serious.
A four-year term was identified before mitigation. The court then considered Hussain's lack of relevant previous convictions, work record, support for his family in Pakistan, cooperation with Gardaí, remorse, conduct in prison and the fact that he was serving his sentence without family support in Ireland.
The resulting sentence was three years, with the final nine months suspended subject to good behaviour and participation in any relevant prison course or counselling offered. The sentence was backdated to the original Circuit Court sentence and included credit for the earlier 13 weeks in custody.
The Sex Offenders Act 2001 was declared applicable. The court also noted that immigration authorities intended to deport Hussain after his release and that he did not intend to contest that deportation.