DPP appeals against suspended sentence for Cathal Crotty

The public prosecutor has appealed against the suspended sentence of soldier Cathal Crotty on the grounds of “undue leniency”.

The Attorney General filed an appeal on Friday – and it could take up to a year for the case to be heard.

Mr Crotty received a three years’ imprisonment on probation by Judge Tom O’Donnell.

He was serving in the armed forces when he attacked Natasha O’Brien in Limerick in May 2022.

She had told him to stop repeating a homophobic slur, whereupon he forced her to the ground and attacked her.

Ms O’Brien suffered a broken nose, bruising, nightmares and panic attacks following the unprovoked attack.

Hours after the attack, Mr Crotty boasted about what he had done, writing to his friends on Snapchat: “Two to calm ’em down, two to shut ’em down.”

A court in Limerick heard that the soldier initially denied the attack until he was shown CCTV evidence of the incident.

Judgment by Cathal Crotty

At the ConvictionMr O’Donnell said Mr Crotty’s actions were “absolutely appalling” but said he had “no doubt” that if he sentenced Crotty to prison immediately, his Army career would be “over”.

The judge imposed a three-year prison sentence, suspended in its entirety, and ordered Mr Crotty to pay Ms O’Brien €3,000 in compensation.

Ms O’Brien has since campaigned for reform of the Irish justice system and told a protest rally last night that she did not want to “live in a world where such things continue”.

At a protest rally in Cork last week, Ms O’Brien said: They should not “have to” campaign for new laws.

“It’s been a crazy week, I’ve been all over the country – now I want to sit down and work out a legislative plan to put before our Taoiseach McEntee.”