Cathal Crotty jailed after Court of Appeal overturns suspended sentence for attack on Natasha O'Brien 

The Crotty case prompted a public and political outcry in July last year

Cathal Crotty initially lied to gardaí, telling them he had been attacked first, but changed his story when confronted with CCTV. Picture: Collins Courts

The Court of Appeal has overturned the fully suspended sentence handed down to former soldier Cathal Crotty and jailed him for two years for beating Natasha O'Brien unconscious on a public street after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic abuse.

The three-judge court imposed the sentence after an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who argued that the fully suspended three-year sentence imposed by the Circuit Court last year was unduly lenient. Lily Buckley BL, for the DPP, argued that the failure to impose a custodial sentence on Crotty (aged 22) sent the wrong message regarding society's disapproval of such offending.