SM's sentence appeal partly allowed in indecent assault case

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

The Court of Appeal partly allowed SM's appeal against sentence for indecent assaults on two of his sisters. The proceedings were reported on 26 June 2020.

SM was convicted of five counts of indecent assault against his first sister when he was aged 14 or 15 and she was aged 11 or 12. He was also convicted of one count against his second sister when he was aged 18 or 19 and she was aged 12 or 13.

He received concurrent one-year sentences for the first three counts and concurrent two-year sentences for the other two counts against his first sister. Those sets of sentences had originally been consecutive. He received a further two-and-a-half-year sentence for the offence against his second sister, consecutive to the sentences for counts four and five.

The appeal court ordered the one-year sentences to run concurrently with the sentences for counts four and five. The sentence for the single offence against his second sister remained consecutive to the sentences for counts four and five.

SM also appealed his convictions, arguing that the admission of his ‘no comment’ Garda interview answers breached his right to silence. His counsel said his questions to a Garda had been intended to show that SM had answered questions, and that he had not asked the Garda to confirm that SM had answered all questions freely.

The report said the prosecution had wrongly asserted that counsel had suggested SM answered freely. Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly said the prosecution's application concerned the entire line of questioning, and that the jury had been given the impression SM had not exercised his right to silence when he had done so at points in the interview.