Judges to rule on rape sentence appeal
Magnus Meyer Hustveit, aged 25, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of rape and one count of sexual assault against 28-year-old Niamh Ní Dhomhnaill, in 2011 and 2012.
He was given a wholly suspended seven-year sentence by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy on July 13, 2015.
Hustveit, whose former partner waived her right to anonymity so his identity could be published, returned to his native Norway after sentencing.
In seeking a review of his sentence at the Court of Appeal yesterday on grounds it was “unduly lenient”, Mary Rose Gearty, prosecuting, cited a former chief justice when she said it was not easy to imagine circumstances which would justify a non-custodial sentence for rape.
Ms Gearty said there were multiple rapes in this case and a “shocking betrayal of trust”. It was unusual in that it combined a sleeping victim and a relationship.
Ms Gearty said the victim’s trauma was increased by Hustveit’s suggestions she had lied about the symptoms from which she was suffering. Hustveit had instructed his lawyers to cross-examine her in relation to her comments about the symptoms, said Ms Gearty, when the disclosure of medical documentation was not forthcoming.
It made matters so much more distressing for her, said Ms Gearty, and led one to question whether Hustveit was “filled with remorse” and had taken “responsibility for what he had done”, as had been submitted on his behalf.
Ms Gearty submitted that the judge erred by not acknowledging that this range of behaviour and class of conduct merited a lengthy period of custody.
Caroline Biggs, defending, said the exceptional circumstance in this case was “the all-important email” Hustveit had sent to Ms Ní Dhomhnaill, acknowledging what he had done.
He pressed ‘send’ on the email because she had asked him, said Ms Biggs. She needed to understand exactly what he had done so she could get closure and move on with her life.
Hustveit had put his own interests aside and acknowledged that what he was doing may well lead to a prosecution when there was not a shred of evidence against him and no prospect of a charge, said Ms Biggs. There was at its very highest the possibility of a sexual assault charge, she said.
The rationale for the sentencing judge saying he had never come across such a case did not relate to the act but the way Hustveit had dealt with his culpability, said Ms Biggs, adding that the law did not mandate that suspended sentences could not be afforded for rape.
Ms Biggs said the DPP was seeking to punish her client for seeking to cross-examine his former partner on her medical information. It had to be tested, she said, and the cross-examination wasn’t lengthy.
Mr Justice George Birmingham said the court would reserve judgment.
Hustveit was present for the hearing.
Ms Ní Dhomh-naill, was also present.
