The Court of Appeal has replaced a 10-year sentence, which included two years suspended, with 10 years’ imprisonment without suspension for a man who pleaded guilty to offences against his eight-year-old niece by marriage. The court also ordered five years of post-release supervision.
The ex tempore judgment was delivered by Ms Justice Kennedy on 3 July 2020. The appeal was brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993, seeking review of the sentence as unduly lenient.
The respondent pleaded guilty to three counts of rape under section 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990, four further rape counts, three counts of sexual assault, one child exploitation count and one count of invitation to sexual touching. The offences took place between 15 October 2018 and 16 January 2019.
The judgment said the respondent used a “secret code” to signal to the child to go upstairs. The abuse occurred at least weekly, mostly at his home, with one rape at the child’s home. It came to light in January 2019 after the child confided in a family member. The respondent later returned from Dublin Airport and presented himself at a garda station. During his fourth interview, he gave an account of the offending.
The sentencing judge had identified the young age of the child and breach of trust as aggravating features. Mitigation included an early guilty plea, remorse, disclosure, previous good character and a probation report describing progress in understanding the offending. The judge set a 12-year headline sentence and imposed 10 years, with the final two years suspended; the other counts were taken into consideration.
The Court of Appeal found the offending involved grooming, repeated abuse, premeditation, control and abuse of trust. It concluded that the 12-year pre-mitigation sentence was too low, but did not fault the one-third reduction for mitigation. It set the headline sentence at 15 years and substituted a 10-year prison term. The court said no part of that term should be suspended.
The respondent remains subject to the Sex Offenders Act 2001. After release, he must undergo five years of supervision, keep probation appointments, provide and update his address, and attend assessments and treatment as directed by his probation officer.