The Court of Appeal has reduced the rape sentences imposed on an anonymised man after finding that insufficient weight was given to his youth and immaturity during years of sexual offending against his younger cousin.
M.H. had pleaded guilty in the Central Criminal Court to nine offences involving one victim: five rape offences and four sexual assaults. He originally received concurrent nine-year sentences on the rape counts, with the final three years suspended, and concurrent three-year terms for sexual assault.
The offending occurred mainly between 2003 and 2005, although a probation report indicated that inappropriate behaviour may have begun as early as 1999. There was a five-and-a-half-year age difference between M.H. and his cousin. The conduct escalated over time and culminated in vaginal rape in 2005, when the victim was 12 and M.H. had recently turned 18.
The Court of Appeal stressed the seriousness of the offending, the breach of trust and the profound impact on the victim. Her victim impact statement described severe sleep problems, anxiety, disruption to her education and an episode of attempted self-harm.
However, the court found an error in the original sentencing assessment. M.H. had been legally a child during most of the offending, and the appeal court considered that his relative immaturity had not been given sufficient weight when the nine-year starting point was chosen.
The court also attached significant weight to his later conduct. M.H. himself went to Gardaí, disclosed what he had done and made admissions. He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, had no previous convictions and had engaged with efforts to understand and address his abusive behaviour.
The court selected seven years as the appropriate starting sentence for each rape count and suspended the final three years. All sentences remain concurrent. The three-year terms for sexual assault were left unchanged.