Man’s baby assault appeal rejected by Court of Appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

An unnamed man’s section three assault conviction for attacking his four-month-old daughter remained in place after the Court of Appeal rejected the State’s application to jail him. The proceedings were reported on 27 January 2022.

He pleaded guilty to the section three assault, arising from the incident on 18 September 2019, and to a separate section two assault on his partner on 12 June 2020. He received a six-month prison sentence for the partner assault at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where Judge Martin Nolan took the child assault into consideration.

The appeal was dismissed by Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly, sitting with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy. The court said there was no practical consequence in resentencing him. Judge Nolan said he had not intended to harm the child but had acted recklessly, describing his actions as “pretty inexcusable”.