Former soldier Cathal Crotty has been jailed by the Court of Appeal for two years for his “brutal and unprovoked” physical assault on a “defenceless” woman in Limerick city.
The appeal court on Thursday imposed a three-year sentence, with one year suspended on condition Crotty enter a bond to be of good behaviour, after upholding an appeal by the DPP that a three-year suspended sentence given to Crotty last year for the assault causing harm to Natasha O’Brien was unduly lenient and should be overturned.
Judge Tom O’Donnell, having considered a four year sentence was the appropriate headline sentence in this case, had determined at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court last July that a three year custodial sentence was appropriate.
He considered aggravating factors, including the “outrageous” nature of the assault, posts by Crotty to friends on Snapchat afterwards boasting “Two to out her down, two to put her out”, references to striking Ms O’Brien four times, and the injuries suffered by Ms O’Brien, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
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The mitigating factors included Crotty’s signed guilty plea, his remorse, offer of €3,000 compensation, no previous convictions, good work record and that he would probably lose his job if a custodial term was imposed.
Having balanced the factors, Judge O’Donnell suspended the entire three year custodial term on conditions including Crotty pay €3,000 compensation, which Ms O’Brien had indicated she would accept.
In the appeal court ruling on Thursday, Ms Justice Kennedy, with Mr Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Tara Burns, said the principle of general deterrence was not reflected in the fully suspended sentence where the consequences for the victim were “dramatic”, physically and psychologically.
The fact Crotty would probably lose his job was not a factor which merited too much weight, she said.
Crotty’s conduct was of such gravity it deserved punishment in “a meaningful way”.
People should be entitled to walk the streets at night without fear, attacks on people at night are far too common and they may require custodial sentences, she said.
This was a brutal and unprovoked assault on a defenceless woman who had properly asked a male in Crotty’s company to refrain from using homophobic language, she said. Only for a passerby intervened to stop the assault, it could have had “more serious” consequences.
Crotty had punched Ms O’Brien in the face and continued to attack her after she fell to the ground, she noted. He had shown “further callousness” by running from the scene, leaving her injured on the ground, and by his “incomprehensible” posting of messages on Snapchat.
The court agreed with the DPP the sentencing judge was correct in placing the assault causing harm offence at the upper end of the range of seriousness and that it merited a headline sentence of four years. The maximum sentence for the offence in 2022 was five years, the judge noted.
Balancing the aggravating and mitigating factors, the appeal court concluded a three-year sentence was appropriate, with the final year suspended.
Crotty, now aged 23, was in court for the appeal as was Ms O’Brien.
The suspended sentence had been strongly criticised by Ms O’Brien, who has sought more stringent sentencing guidelines in assault cases, and prompted significant public and political controversy. Crotty was discharged from the Defence Forces last July.
Speaking outside court on Thursday, Natasha O’Brien, accompanied by her mother Anne, said she the appeal court had sent a message “loud and clear” that violence would no longer be tolerated against any woman or man in this country.
The previous sentence had not been a deterrent but a new precedent had been set by the appeal court, she said. She felt she could now put the attack behind her.
While it didn’t feel good to see a young man put away, she thought it was “necessary”.
She hoped the court’s decision could be “a true lesson” and “a turning point”.
Ms O’Brien thanked the organisation Victim Support and also thanked investigating garda Brian Carroll.
In her submissions for the DPP in the sentencing appeal, barrister Lily Buckley said the assault on Ms O’Brien was of such gravity it required “hard” punishment in the form of a prison sentence in the interests of communicating society’s “deprecation” of such crimes. It would send the “wrong” message to society if there was not a custodial element, she said.
Ms O’Brien suffered PTSD and depression, is still suffering as a result of the assault and is not working, Ms Buckley said.
In opposing the appeal, Brian McInerney SC, for Crotty, said Judge O’Donnell was a very experienced judge, who never took lightly offences involving violence, but was also a judge with humanity.
There was clear evidence Crotty was “of unblemished character” with no previous convictions and this was “a major factor”.
Crotty acknowledged that what had happened should never have happened, Mr McInerney said. He was discharged from the Defence Forces, will have difficulty in terms of future work and has suffered as a result of public opprobrium, counsel said.
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