Paddy Harty loses sexual assault sentence appeal

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

Paddy Harty's appeal against the severity of his sexual assault sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 8 April 2019. The judgment was delivered by Birmingham P.

The Central Criminal Court had sentenced him on 29 January 2018 to four years' imprisonment and provided for two years of post-release supervision. The sentence was consecutive to a five-year sentence, with the final year suspended, imposed by the Circuit Court in Galway on 29 November 2017 for a theft committed on 16 May 2016.

Harty had stood trial on a rape charge, but the trial judge directed his acquittal at the end of the prosecution case and indicated that she would tell the jury about the alternative verdict of sexual assault. Harty then pleaded guilty to sexual assault. The DPP accepted that the case should be approached as involving an early guilty plea.

Harty argued that the sentencing judge was wrong to say a concurrent sentence would mean he served no additional time. The Court of Appeal agreed that the judge was incorrect on that point, but found the consecutive sentence appropriate. It said the judge had reduced the sentence by a further year to address the totality of the punishment and proportionality; the resulting sentence was within the available range and disclosed no error in principle.