The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal by a father over a life sentence imposed on him for numerous offences of severe sexual violence, including rape and sexual assault, of three of his children.
The offences occurred between August 2014 and April 2016 when the children – a girl and her two brothers – were aged five, six and seven.
The father claimed his life sentence, compared to a sentence of 18½ years for a co-accused, an uncle by marriage of the children, was an “unjustified and disproportionate disparity”.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) opposed any appeal, arguing no matters of general public importance arose. There was nothing to suggest a sentence of life imprisonment is not available in rape cases, especially when offences were over a prolonged period and committed by a parent against their children, the DPP said.
A panel of three Supreme Court judges, in a recently published determination, disagreed the disparity between the sentences raised issues entitling the father to a full appeal before the court.
In imposing the life sentence, the Court of Appeal (CoA) expressly addressed the “heightened culpability” of the man as the father of the victims, the judges said.
Unlike the uncle, the father was in a position of “the most primary trust and authority” over his children and, on the analysis of the CoA, his actions involved “prolonged abuse, neglect and exploitation of an egregious nature”, they said.
The CoA noted the father’s role, and the gravity of his offending, warranted a more severe sentence, even while acknowledging the marginal difference between him and the uncle in overall culpability, the judges said. “Being a father of an abused child is a significant factor.”
The CoA last July imposed the life sentence on the father after upholding the DPP’s appeal that a 15-year term imposed on him, when aged 59, at the Central Criminal Court in January 2022 for offences of rape, sexual exploitation, sexual assault and child cruelty was too lenient.
The children’s mother, then aged 37, and the co-accused uncle, then aged 51, had their jail terms increased from nine- to 12-years and from 15- to 18½ years respectively.
The mother’s sentence was for offences of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and child cruelty, while the uncle’s sentence was for rape, sexual exploitation and sexual assault.
The trial heard both parents were intellectually impaired.
When imposing the life term on the father, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the children should have been able to rely upon him for all their needs but instead he “raped and violated” them.
His position of dominance within the family could not be ignored, she said. The “grave, systematic, prolonged and depraved abuse” of the three children against a background of terrible neglect meant the “only appropriate and just” sentence was of life imprisonment.
In relation to the uncle, the judge described his abuse as “depraved” and “particularly egregious”. He was “manipulative” and “duplicitous” in representing himself as assisting social workers seeking to help the children when he was in fact engaging in the “appalling abuse and manipulation” of them.
The 2021 trial heard the children suffered a range of issues while in the care of their parents including chronic tooth decay, low weight and marks and scarring to their bodies. Their behavioural issues included hyper-vigilance and anxiety.
After they were placed in care, the children made disclosures in relation to sexual abuse by their parents and other relatives.
Five family members were later found guilty of sexually abusing them on dates between August 2014 and April 2016. The parents were also found guilty of wilful neglect.
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