The Court of Appeal has dismissed David Hoban’s appeal against the severity of a three-year prison sentence for child defilement, finding that the sentence did not involve an error of principle.
Hoban pleaded guilty on 13 April 2018 to two counts of defilement of a child under 17. On 26 April, the Circuit Criminal Court imposed three years’ imprisonment on Count One, with Counts Two, Three and Four taken into consideration. The Court of Appeal judgment says the offences involved sexual intercourse and oral intercourse on three occasions in June 2015.
The appeal argued that the sentence was excessive and that the sentencing judge had given insufficient weight to the guilty pleas, remorse, family circumstances and rehabilitation. The appellant also argued that the judge should have identified a headline sentence before applying mitigation. The Court of Appeal said the absence of a headline sentence was not, by itself, a proper ground of appeal.
The judgment recounts that the complainant was 14 and had met Hoban through the Skout social media website. Messages recovered during the investigation included exchanges in which her young age was discussed. In one exchange, after she asked if they could not be together because she was too young, Hoban replied, “Yup.”
The sentencing judge had referred to Hoban’s guilty plea, remorse, capacity for reform, work history and difficult personal circumstances. The Court of Appeal said the judge had considered the relevant factors and that the sentence fell within the available margin of discretion.
It identified the guilty plea and remorse as principal mitigating factors. It also said the aggravating factors were significant, particularly the age disparity and aggression on what appeared to be the last occasion. The court concluded that it could see no error of principle and dismissed the appeal. The three-year sentence therefore remained in place.