The Court of Appeal has reduced K.M.’s prison sentence from two years to 12 months following his conviction for indecently assaulting a 15-year-old patient in 1989.
K.M., a general practitioner, had been convicted by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in November 2015. The offence occurred while he was attending the teenager’s family during her mother’s terminal illness. The assault involved touching her vaginal area over her clothing during a medical examination.
At sentencing, the court heard that K.M. had no previous convictions, was married with four adult children and had previously been regarded as a competent and professional doctor. He had also become the sole carer for his elderly father.
The trial judge considered the offence to fall in the mid-range. Although the touching was external, non-penetrative and a single incident, the judge regarded the complainant’s age and the serious breach of trust inherent in a doctor assaulting a teenage patient as significant aggravating factors.
K.M. received two years' imprisonment. He appealed on the basis that the offence had been placed too high on the seriousness scale and that insufficient weight had been given to mitigation.
The Court of Appeal rejected the first argument. It held that the overall culpability remained significant because of the context, breach of trust and psychological and emotional harm caused.
However, the court accepted that the mitigation deserved greater weight. K.M. was a first-time offender of previous good character and faced consequences beyond imprisonment, including the loss of his income and medical profession.
The judges stressed that where custody is required for a person of previous good character, the fact of imprisonment itself can carry particular weight and the term need not always be prolonged.
The two-year sentence was therefore quashed and replaced with 12 months' imprisonment from October 24, 2016, with credit for time already served.