The Court of Criminal Appeal has upheld eight concurrent life sentences imposed on a man for the rape of children during an extended period of sexual abuse involving his daughters and nieces.
The appellant, identified as R McC, had been indicted on 43 counts of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and assault involving six female victims. He pleaded guilty to 20 sample charges. Two victims were his daughters and four were his nieces. The offences occurred between 1986 and 1997.
Carney J imposed eight concurrent life sentences for the rape counts in the Central Criminal Court in May 2004. Concurrent four-year terms were imposed for indecent and sexual assault offences. The appeal concerned sentence only.
The Court of Criminal Appeal described the offending as being at or near the extreme end of this type of criminal behaviour. The judgment recorded that abuse of the appellant’s daughters began when they were as young as five or six. It continued despite repeated confrontations, counselling and a 1987 Garda statement in which he admitted abusing his daughters.
The appellant argued that insufficient credit had been given for his guilty pleas, previous good character, absence of convictions and four years of voluntary treatment for sexually abusive behaviour. He also challenged the sentencing judge’s consideration of the greater possibility of parole under life sentences compared with very long consecutive determinate terms.
The appeal court relied on section 29 of the Criminal Justice Act 1999, which permits a court to impose the statutory maximum despite a guilty plea where exceptional circumstances surrounding the offence warrant it.
It held that the offences, viewed on their own, reached that exceptional level of gravity. The appeal was therefore dismissed and the Central Criminal Court sentences affirmed.
The court nevertheless said an important legal issue remained as to whether section 29 had displaced earlier case law requiring sentencing credit for an early guilty plea. It indicated that question could merit certification for a further appeal if an application was made.