The Court of Appeal has quashed a wholly suspended sentence imposed on a young man who pleaded guilty to sexual offences against his niece, and resentenced him to five years’ imprisonment on each of seven rape counts, to run concurrently.
The court suspended the final 2½ years for 2½ years, subject to cooperation with the Probation Service and continued counselling as advised. It also imposed two years of post-release supervision, saying it would hear submissions on that matter. The respondent remains indefinitely on the sex offenders register.
The Director of Public Prosecutions brought the case under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993, seeking review on grounds of undue leniency. The respondent had pleaded guilty on a representative basis to seven rape counts, 10 sexual assault counts, three counts of inviting sexual touching and one count of using information and communication technology to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child. Seventy-five counts had been preferred on the indictment. The sentencing judge imposed five years on each rape count, took the other counts into consideration and suspended the sentence in full for five years.
The offending occurred over three years, when the respondent was aged between 14 and 17 and the injured party between eight and 11. The court described the offending as serious, citing the child’s age, the breach of trust by her uncle and babysitter, the duration and frequency of the abuse, and the use of force, coercion and threats. The court noted that the respondent admitted frequent sexual activity and supplied additional details to Gardaí.
The Court of Appeal agreed that the case fell within the more serious category of rape cases discussed in earlier authority. It said the original five-year headline sentence did not adequately mark the gravity of the offending, despite the respondent’s youth and emotional immaturity. It also held that the sentencing judge placed excessive weight on psychological reports in suspending the whole term and that a custodial element was necessary.
In resentencing, the court set a headline sentence of 7½ years, reduced it by one third for mitigation and imposed five years on each rape count concurrently, with the remaining counts taken into consideration. It noted updated material confirming the respondent was on the autistic spectrum, continued counselling and had attended an IT course. The judgment was delivered on 24 May 2022.