Nathan Doherty’s sentence increased for serious harm attack

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

Nathan Doherty’s sentence for intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm and producing an article capable of causing serious harm was increased by the Court of Appeal to six years’ imprisonment, with the final year suspended for two years, on 24 June 2022.

He had pleaded guilty to both charges and was originally sentenced at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court by Judge Keenan Johnson in January 2021 to six years, with the final three years suspended for 10 years. The appeal court, in a decision read by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, ordered €25,000 compensation for Derek Murphy in annual €5,000 instalments beginning 10 months after Doherty’s release. Defence counsel said Doherty had been goaded by his father and relied on his early guilty plea and first-offender status as mitigation.