Court increases prison sentence in sexual assault case

The Court of Criminal Appeal has increased from four to six years the prison term imposed on a 59-year-old man who was jailed for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy whose mother he had befriended.

The court held that the original sentence was unduly lenient.

Earlier this year the man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of his victim, was jailed for four years at a sitting of Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court after he admitted to three counts of sexually

assault on the boy, at the man's then residence in the North East of the country that occurred in July 2006.

A period of seven years post release supervision was also imposed. The DPP appealed the sentence on the grounds it was unduly lenient, given the devastating effect the offences had on the young victim, the man's previous bad history, and the fact that the man had abused a position of

trust.

Counsel for the man had argued that the sentence should remain intact as the sentencing judge had taken in all the relevant aggravating and mitigating factors.

Today the three Judge CCA of Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns presiding, sitting with Mr Justice Daniel Herbert and Mr Justice Eamon De Valera agreed with the DPP that the sentence was unduly lenient.

Mr Justice Kearns said was a case where "undoubtedly" a "violation of trust had taken place". The court imposed a six-year sentence, with a post release supervision period of five years.

The Judge said that the man had befriended the victim's mother, who had helped out at the man's residence, and he spent time in the boy's company.

However on one occasion, when she was bringing a meal to the man, she walked into the sitting room of the house to discover a sexual assault taking place on her son.

The court noted that reports showed that there was a high risk that the man would re-offend.

The court also noted the terrible effect that the assaults had on what was a vulnerable young victim, that the man had six previous convictions and had served time in prison for similar offences dating back to the mid seventies.

Meanwhile in an unrelated case, also heard yesterday, the Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed an application by the DPP to increase the 18-month prison sentence imposed on a 55-year-old Midland's man found guilty of sexually and indecently assaulting his niece during the 1990's

when the girl was aged between 12 and 16 years of age.

The CCA held that the sentence of 18 months plus another 12 months which were suspended imposed by Mr Justice Peter Charleton at the Central Criminal Court earlier this year, following a lengthy trial, was not unduly lenient.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was also awarded his costs.