DPP to appeal O'Donoghue's 'lenient' sentence

The Director of Public Prosecutions is to appeal the sentence handed down to child killer Wayne O’Donoghue, it was confirmed today.

The Courts Service revealed it had received an application to review the four year sentence given to the 21-year-old student for the manslaughter of his neighbour, Robert Holohan.

The DPP is appealing on the grounds that four years is unduly lenient.

O’Donoghue, from Ballyedmond in Midleton, was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in December over killing Robert.

The youngster disappeared near his home last January. Eight days later, his body was found dumped in an overgrown gorge 12 miles away following an intensive search of the area.

O’Donoghue had been charged with the murder of Robert Holohan but a jury found him not guilty of that charge, but guilty of manslaughter.

Sentencing O’Donoghue to four years jail, Mr Justice Paul Carney said he was dealing only with the act of manslaughter and not the subsequent cover-up.

Under the 1993 Criminal Justice Act, the DPP has the right to appeal a sentence if he feels it was too lenient.

The three-judge Court of Criminal appeal can either quash the sentence and impose what it considers an appropriate, or refuse the application.