The Court of Appeal has found that a 12-month prison sentence imposed on Seamus Buckley for 26 counts of indecent assault was unduly lenient, but has decided not to extend the period he would actually spend in custody.
Buckley had pleaded guilty in Cork Circuit Criminal Court to offences committed between 1979 and 1985. The complainant was aged between six and 12 or 13 during the period of abuse.
Buckley was about 21 when the offending began. He worked as a tractor mechanic for the complainant’s father and was a trusted family friend whom she regarded as an uncle-type figure. The judgment records repeated sexual abuse over a number of years.
The complainant reported the abuse to Gardaí in July 2014. When contacted later that year, Buckley sought legal advice and then attended his local Garda station voluntarily. He made full admissions. Detective Garda Leahy accepted that those admissions were of considerable value and that the case might otherwise have been difficult to prosecute.
At sentencing, Buckley was 57, married with four adult children and had no previous convictions. A psychologist reported that he was genuinely remorseful, had engaged seriously with treatment and was considered extremely unlikely to pose a future risk.
The Circuit Court imposed 12 months on each of 26 counts, all concurrent. The DPP argued that the sentence failed to reflect the seriousness of the offending, particularly the complainant’s young age, the duration of the abuse and the breach of trust.
The Court of Appeal agreed. It held that the sentence should not have been less than two years' actual imprisonment and that a longer partly suspended sentence could properly have been imposed.
However, by the time of the appeal Buckley had served most of the 12-month term and was within weeks of release. The court concluded that extending his actual time in custody would not best serve the interests of justice.
It therefore substituted three years' imprisonment with the final two years suspended.