DPP appeals against suspended sentence for Cathal Crotty for assault in Limerick – The Irish Times

The Attorney General has appealed against the three-year suspended sentence imposed on soldier Cathal Crotty last month for beating a woman unconscious in Limerick city.

Crotty (22) was given a suspended sentence for violently attacking Natasha O’Brien in the street after she asked him to stop using homophobic abuse against passers-by, a court heard.

Ms O’Brien welcomed the DPP’s decision on Monday, saying: “Thank God the right thing is now being done.”

However, she said:

“I am almost certain that there are a far greater number of inappropriately lenient sentences that do not reach this (appeal) stage.

“I know that the DPP is impartial to public opinion and to the opinion of the government. However, I am convinced that there would not have been an appeal if there had not been a nationwide uproar,” she said.

In the hours after the attack, Crotty, a soldier from Ardnacrusha in County Clare, boasted to friends on Snapchat: “Two to knock her down, two to knock her unconscious,” referring to the four blows to Ms O’Brien.

Given the potential impact of a prison sentence on the soldier’s career, Judge Tom O’Donnell imposed a three-year suspended sentence at Limerick District Criminal Court on 20 June and ordered Crotty to pay Ms O’Brien €3,000 in compensation.

The case sparked considerable public and political controversy, with thousands taking part in protests over the weekend in support of Ms O’Brien.

The public prosecutor’s office filed an appeal on Friday, citing undue leniency. No date has yet been set for the first appeal hearing.

The military leadership sought urgent legal advice on Monday evening to clarify whether the appeal means that the dismissal process must be postponed until the legal conclusion of the proceedings.

The Armed Forces’ regulations on the discharge of soldiers with civilian criminal records state: “Discharges shall not be effected until it is determined that no appeal has been made or, if an appeal has been made, until it has been heard and determined.”

However, the legal advice received by the authority stated that the rule only applied to appeals against a defendant’s conviction and not to appeals against a prosecutor’s sentence.

Therefore, senior officials are confident that they can continue the dismissal process against Crotty.

Speaking on Monday, Ms O’Brien said legislation and sentencing guidelines “need to change” to make the courts “more accessible” to victims of crime.

She pointed out that the Labour Party will bring a motion to the Dáil on Wednesday calling for tougher sentencing guidelines for assault cases. “This is fantastic and it’s great to see the wheels of change slowly moving forward.”

However, Ms O’Brien said she was concerned about the reaction to her public stance.

“I got an incredible amount of backlash last weekend because people were saying, ‘Would she just stop?’ – ‘Two (punches) to knock her down, how many to shut her up?’, ‘She deserves it, she’s being cheeky.’

“It’s really scary. This is a societal problem and people are frustrated because I continue to speak out about it. I’m not going to let up because we as a society are only at the beginning. We are making progress but we are nowhere near where we should be,” Ms O’Brien said.

“To all these commenters: your hate is my motivation to keep going.

“It is a warning signal to me that so little is said about the justice system, about victims and about violence, that people are seriously provoked when I speak out in favor of holding perpetrators accountable.”

The force began the termination process against Crotty on 21 June, a day after he was sentenced to his suspended sentence in the Limerick District Criminal Court.

He was brought before a superior officer and informed that he had seven days to raise “objections” as to why he should not be discharged.

It is believed that there were no compelling arguments against his dismissal, allowing the armed forces to officially discharge him from the organisation this week.

According to the regulations, the dismissal process must be carried out “with reasonable speed” and the dismissal date will be determined by the responsible official.