Man who sexually assaulted girl sees suspended year added to sentence

The Court of Criminal Appeal has today ruled that the three-year sentence handed down to a Tipperary man who kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl was too lenient.

Joseph Finnerty (aged 47) of Grove Villas, Roscrea is just weeks away from release.

Finnerty's victim tried to escape from the car as he drove her to a remote woodland area and attacked her in the early hours of the morning.

He was convicted following a trial in 2009 of false imprisonment and sexual assault on November 6, 2000.

The victim said events that night destroyed her life.

The accused was jailed for three years, but today the DPP appealed the sentence as being unduly lenient.

He told the court it was hard to imagine a single incident of sexual assault worse than this "in which a young girl had been preyed on by an older man".

Lawyers for Joseph Finnerty said that he has no other history of sexual offences.

The court added an additional year, which it suspended on the basis that Finnerty is due for release soon.