The Supreme Court has restored the original prison sentences imposed on Frank Heeney for sexual offences against six girls aged 12 or 13, overturning an increase ordered by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Heeney, who was in his early forties at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three charges of unlawful carnal knowledge, one of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge and 14 charges of sexual assault.
The offences occurred mainly at his home in a Dublin suburb. The Supreme Court judgment records that he introduced the girls to sexual activity, in some cases involving intercourse, and brought some complainants to a Dublin hotel to engage in sexual activity with another man.
Judge Kieran O’Connor imposed six-year concurrent sentences for unlawful carnal knowledge and attempted unlawful carnal knowledge, with concurrent three-year terms for the sexual assaults.
The Director of Public Prosecutions challenged the sentences as unduly lenient. The Court of Criminal Appeal increased the six-year terms to ten years.
The Supreme Court appeal centred partly on a meeting held before sentencing between the trial judge and prosecution and defence counsel. During that meeting, the judge indicated the sentence he was minded to impose if Heeney pleaded guilty. Heeney subsequently entered guilty pleas and received the indicated terms.
Chief Justice Keane held that the Court of Criminal Appeal should have taken those circumstances into account when deciding whether and how far to increase the sentences. He stressed that no binding plea bargain had been created and that sentencing remained a matter for the court after hearing the evidence publicly.
The Supreme Court also said private discussions giving the appearance of a bargain over sentence were undesirable and noted that the DPP had discontinued the practice.
The appeal was allowed. The ten-year sentences were set aside and the original Circuit Court sentences were restored.