Ex-principal with child porn wins suspended term

A RETIRED secondary school principal who was caught with 289 images and 12 video files of child pornography on his computer almost three years ago had a prison sentence suspended on appeal yesterday.

Judge Con Murphy allowed the appeal against the original 10-month sentence — which had the last seven months suspended — imposed on 63-year-old Anthony Caniffe at Cork District Court. Judge Murphy increased the overall sentence to one year and suspended it completely.

The appeal judge at Cork Circuit Appeals Court yesterday took extensive mitigating factors into consideration in the case against Caniffe.